by Mary K O'Melveny
 |
| Glowing Christmas candle in frosted home window, photograph by Thomas Baker —Fine Art America |
For every lost soul, a candle
in the window spills its light
into dusky night. Darkening air
softens with hope’s holiday
aromas—sage, balsam, fir, spruce.
Its flame offers a mirror into a forest’s
beating heart, warming deep woods
where easy pathways have slipped
past sight, obscured by doubt, loss.
Its flickered patterns soothe us
as we glance inside into a world
beyond our reach. We want to see
our own reflections there, as if we
had struck the match, poured a glass
of claret, turned on seasonal carols,
smiled at loved ones gathered fireside.
Not the other side where time fells us.
Where its passage startles us anew
as memories sparkle, seduce us
for an instant before they waiver,
then devolve to our collective umbra.
Author's Note: As of November 27, 2022, there have been over 617 mass shootings in the United States and more than 40,000 people have died of gun-related deaths. www.gunviolencearchive.org
Mary K O'Melveny is a recently retired labor rights attorney who lives in Washington DC and Woodstock NY. Her work has appeared in various print and on-line journals. Her most recent poetry collection is Dispatches From the Memory Care Museum, just out from Kelsay Books. Her first poetry chapbook A Woman of a Certain Age is available from Finishing Line Press. Mary’s poetry collection Merging Star Hypotheses was published by Finishing Line Press in January, 2020.