She Lit Up The Candles Poem by Paul Hartal

When
her daughter died
she said
there is no God
in Heaven.

Still
the years
floated away
with the waters
of the rivers
as life
went on.

One day
returning home
from
the frozen street
she
opened the door
and stared into
the gloaming space
of
a widowed room.

She
uttered
a soft sigh
and covered her
ailing shoulders
with a scarf.

And then
she lit up the candles
and prayed.

In
her struggle
with God
she got
the lower hand.