Brian’sPoems

A Humble Light

I carry a light with me like a flare.
It’s mine,
a spark of truth-
not the whole thing.
Some can see it, though I haven’t shown it,
and I can see theirs.
We nod, maybe even share the warmth.
So it goes...

We nurture or neglect this tiny light
as we choose.
It grows brighter
joined with others.
I’ll never forget seeing her light the first time:
unfamiliar and fragile.
Who knows what she thought of my light?
She mistook it for the truth.
I guess I wanted to believe it too,
I agreed to the lie,
smile,
wink.

Soon enough came the rain.
First slow,
then steady,
inevitably a deluge.

My flame went out.
Seeing this, she took her flame,
departed.
Mine wasn’t the truth after all.
How do you live without a light?
How frightening it is,
to feel the darkness coiling around you!

Finally
I consented to die
then begged for a pardon,
said a prayer for humility.
And almost as suddenly came the light of others,
along with the love to relight my own.