A Quiet Candle Life

I didn’t know about the mended life
I did not expect the quiet
I did not anticipate the candle life

    Soft surrounding flame
    Holding onto an orange-hot tip
    Black wick

I did not expect a rainbow life
    Colors melting towards each other
    Spring rain passing
    New wet leaves

Still I know that raging, jealous, microsecond fire
    Brassy, logo-driven, neon
    Staked to the charred past
    Mind igniting

Rescued again by the river of time
Tossed back into the candle-dappled day
I sink into the moment like a stone.