Apocalypse

I saw this writing prompt on Writer's Digest (https://www.writersdigest.com/prompts/apocalypse-now) and thought I'd take a spin on it. An apocalypse (according to Oxford) is an event involving destruction or damage on an awesome or catastrophic scale. I've heard this story many times in my discussions with people and when I saw the prompt, it sparked this apocalypse in my mind.

Apocolypse

You didn't know I was listening
when I heard
things cracking
creaking
collapsing
you storming down stairs.

You didn't see me
bracing for impact
crushed by the weight of you anger
standing to see you one last time
before you left.

I cried

You told me these things happen
everything will be okay
you were lying
and you knew it.

You left
and the world was broken
never to be put back together.

I stood alone.

I tried sticking things together
to make something new from what was left
but did you want me to?

I wasn't a builder then
but I learned.
Too late to fix what was broken
or the chain of things that crumbled when you were gone.

Now I see
an aftermath of destruction reaching deep into the world
far into time like aftershocks
of memory
fear
loss.

Now I'm a builder.
I listen for who's listening
I watch for who's watching
most of all
I build builders
making sure they are
ready.