Tonight I Light This Candle Poem by William Fay

Tonight I light this candle;
Then watch the quiet flame
Sigh and awake,
Like the black wing come slow
Through the darkest of rooms.

Too young to know my daughter,
Lights another in this cathedral,
The shrine of a saint,
Who might be your guide
Through that other kingdom,
The silent house,
From where none return....

This season a wild frost forms,
Quick across the fields,
Across the roofs of sad towns,
In the hearts of us all,
Tethered like stone,
To this bitter earth,
To this moment of life.

Yet in the glow, furious spirit,
As I recall a hand too weak to grasp,
I feel your soul my mother returning,
Defiant as fire and language,
And too late, I talk to you.

Tonight I light this candle.