Lost in Translation

I will never forget

familiar flames flickering in brown eyes resembling my own,

yet speaking languages I would never understand;

the inferno consumed him.

I remember how

his bursts of anger would burn the whole house down

and leave us afraid to provoke his fiery eyes

for fear of being burned.

I will never forget

the rekindling of unease coming face-to-face with those blazeless eyes,

the memories of anticipating spontaneous combustion evaporating;

extinguished, unrecognizable eyes.

I remember how

the brown eyes like my own spoke an indecipherable language,

and his smile looked nothing how I thought it had;

his accent grew thicker as he said

it’s so good to see you again.