Can You See the Light?

There once was a box

That sat on a shelf

It sat on a shelf in the hall

It wasn’t too deep

And it wasn’t too wide

It wasn’t too short

Or too tall

Rectangular grey

It sat day by day

It went quite unnoticed by all

The box had four sides

A bottom and top

Of metal-edged glass, it was wrought

All painted, and yet

Some bits had flaked off

Where the glass glistened through

No one gave it a thought

At the apex a ring

A curious thing

Unused since the box had been bought

So the box on the shelf

Had been all but forgot

By whoever positioned it there

What was it for?

Why did it wait?

Will anyone come?

Does anyone care?

Its purpose concealed

Will soon be revealed

To all who may pass, so beware

Inside the box

Is the tiniest flame

Unseen by the nakedest eye

It glows as it grows

It burns as it yearns

To be seen and acknowledged

By those who pass by

The temperature rises

In this box of surprises

But truly, I cannot say why

The paint on the glass

Of the box in the hall

Peels off at a furious rate

The heat growing hotter

The glass now reveals

The flame trapped within

It has ended its wait

It wants to ignite you

Deceive and delight you

As it alters its pre-conceived fate

For the box in the hall

Is a lantern of sorts

And the lantern’s essentially me

Year after year

The paint was applied

By circumstance

Choices and powers that be

And the flame that had raged

Grew dim as I aged

Until nearly no one could see

Death brushing by

Must have stirred me to act

No longer content on the shelf

Little by letter

Little by word

I built up the flame

That’s revealing itself

I’ve become what I am

I’m a writer, goddamn

And the shelf, I’ll reserve for the elf