J. I. Thomas F. Poet Free verse

Candle

Impatient engineer that I am,
I think I could watch it forever -
or at least until it consumes itself.

Pure little teardrop of fire,
yellow-white blossom of a bluish bud,
still as a ghost for an instant.

Then you flicker.

And in doing so betray
your sweet mortality,
your honest fragility,
your shudder at the cold breath of time.

While I watch you, I behold life.
My soul sees itself.
And, for an instant, eternity locks ...

Then another flicker.

And a bittersweet sense of guilt
at the wastage of time
in watching a candle burn ...


28 November 2023

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