She wanted them burned
Just like she had done with mine.
Our love to be spurned.
Forbidden, expressed in rhyme.
She would be thankful in time.
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General FictionChallenge Entry
To Burn or not to burn
Reviews (1)
Berniethebard
4/25/2026
Thank you Heather. You are right with what you say. It is a moment that's already happened but the writer has not done what she would have wanted. It relates to two people who wrote poems to each other, both married to others, the poems expressing the feelings they had. One of them got jumpy and burned them all, the other couldn't do it. Interestingly I was inspired to write this from the poems I wrote for the NaPoWriMo month. Cheers Heather.
4/24/2026
The Words That Got to Me
“She wanted them burned Just like she had done with mine.” That hit right away. There’s something sharp in that contrast, like history repeating but not in the same way. “Our love to be spurned.” Short, but it carries weight. It feels final, almost resigned. “Forbidden, expressed in rhyme.” I really liked this line. It pulls back just enough to make the whole thing feel self-aware, like the poem knows what it is. “She would be thankful in time.” This is the one that lingered for me. It feels like a quiet justification, or maybe even a hope that hasn’t quite let go.
This feels controlled in a good way. You didn’t over-explain anything, and that restraint is what makes it work. It reads like a moment that’s already happened, already decided, and we’re just catching the echo of it. There’s a quiet tension running through it, especially between what was felt and what’s being accepted now. That’s what stuck with me most.