Between Candle and Smoke
A Sonnet on Memory and Loss
I hold your absence like a struck match glow,
Bright at the edges where my fingers burn,
While darkness pools in places I can't know,
The rooms you've left, the paths of no return.
Each memory flares, your laughter, sudden gold,
Then smoke that curls away before I breathe.
I build you up with light, but can't take hold
Of shadows that through every story weave.
Perhaps this is the bargain love demands
To carry both the candle and its death,
To dream you whole while knowing empty hands,
To speak your name and lose it in my breath.
Thus, must I bear this dusk that will not stay,
An ache of light, a comfort in decay.
About the Creator
Tim Carmichael
Let your becoming be louder than your fear, and your smallest steps become the road you once thought impossible to walk. An Appalachian poet and cookbook author my book Beautiful and Brutal Things is on Amazon, Link 👇
Enjoyed the story? Support the Creator.
Subscribe for free to receive all their stories in your feed. You could also become a paid subscriber, letting them know you appreciate their work.
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.