Warm murkiness supplanted
by harsh, bright light
and a slap.

Light in every corner of
my infantile imagination.
No knowledge of shadow.

Glowsticks snapped, illuminate
garish shades and candy bowls.
Shadows flash over the treats.

Solar rays pierce my skin;
give welcome warmth one day,
a stinging memory the next.

Candle flame wavers at night
Wax shudders and surrenders
in the heat of strained hope.

After youth comes the monsters.
Boogiemen in closets and shadows
All slain by the glow of a night light.

With school comes knowledge
An unconquerable light
Piercing the shadows of ignorance.

But not all shadows
are destroyed; new ones
cast by the light.

Candles languish on icing
Four soldiers stand squared
greeting the rite of passage.

Headlights guide the car
down a lone country road,
stars as its companions.

Another beam approaches
No - charges
Flash of white, pitch black.

A light shines up above
Gently approaches with
the grasp of a warm hand

Sixteen candles lit in a window
around the photo of a child.
The house is draped in black.

I lie in repose on
the edge of a luminous meadow
Counting lights in the sky below.

The candlelight flashes
shadows on the wall
Memories of what once was.

The mother looks up
pleading to the silent stars
Sees her child in the sky.