Mostly,
when the flame goes out
the candle is left.
Maybe, once upon, it flickered
and burned bright.
Its reflection casting life
onto the screen as I write.
Like the sun it shone wherever I was.
Perhaps it had its own soul?
Not a soul we humans understand.
Of a beauty that mesmerized,
it was so grand.
Not a composition of science,
oxygen and chemistry.
A soul of burning mystery.
And then I left it alone,
ignored and forgot it.
Or,
I extinguished it
with a thoughtless breath.
Cruel, you could say.
It was so motile and alive.
Blue, transparent, deep orange,
dark and light.
Shaped like a hand,
as if reaching out to somewhere —
to a place we can’t see.
An x-dinguished gesture axed the flame.
The candle's journey abruptly finished.
Were there conversations with the candle?
Flaming or not?
Dialog or monolog?
Probably, but rarely.
I told it my story
and asked it to publish my wishes.
I did, — but only in recent oratory.
I put my hopes into the flame.
Then I watched it write,
with the tip of its light,
onto the backdrop of the eternal night.
I blew it out,
letting the white smoke add its credentials
and reshape the message to the essentials.
Quickly I lit it again,
so the flame could rise from the dead
and proceed
with the next message instead.
My message was sent.
Should I remain?
Am I waiting in vain?
Some of my candle is left,
but what happened to its flame?