when all the stars are gone

if there will be no sun, no warmth, no light of heaven to guide me

let me at the least turn to the pale yellow glow of the lantern light

when nightfall comes as it does, like a turned page in a dark room

like a pen swiped too hard then cracking, ink tumbling across the sky

—

if there will be no peace, no quiet, no solutions to be heard

let us gather by the lantern instead to stare into its strange glow

let it beam in the places where luminance lacks, dragging its smolder through the blackness

like a silence that feels like death when it sits too long

—

if there will be no reason, no savior, no price to pay

the lantern will never go out; the world will never be saved

but even with the stars gone, the lantern light can be found

illuminating our faces just the same