The lights all go out one by one
And in the darkness, a candle glows
In remembrance: lest we forget
Although we may have never met
Those men who fought so long ago
In ‘the war to end all wars’ yet war goes on
A dozen candles shine away
Nestled together in a tray of sand
I take one from a tray beneath
And light it, remembering a friend’s grief
Pausing there in the cathedral grand
And in the stillness quietly I pray
The table’s laid, the lights are low
A romantic night out on our own
Time for us to be you and me
And not just Mummy and Daddy
(whilst we keep half an eye on the phone)
And hold hands in the candlelight’s soft glow
A birthday party – here’s the cake
Three candles on top, burning bright
My little girl with a happy shout
Jumps up to blow her candles out
Her little face full of delight
The memory captured as photos we take
A necessity if the power goes
Or sometimes we light candles because
They give us hope in our despair
When lit in reflection or in prayer
A moment to think and to pause
While the candle light flickers and glows
© Louise George – 11th September 2014
Joining in with Verily Victoria Vocalises for Prose for Thought and mumturnedmom for this week’s prompt: “Shine”:
Lovely poem Louise, a great little slant on #ThePrompt with each verse 🙂
Thank you – glad you liked it 🙂
A touching reminder of the myriad of things that candles represent. The poem takes the reader on an emotional journey! Xx
Thank you 🙂
Oh this is just beautiful! What a lovely poem, and perfectly written x
Thank you 🙂
I love this, how you have captured so many different meanings behind the use of candles. It is emotional and moving and uplifting all at once. Thank you so much for sharing with #ThePrompt x
Thanks Sara – loving all the different takes on this week’s #ThePrompt 🙂
That’s beautiful, very touching and poignant. Candle light and its meanings is a lovely interpretation of the prompt word. x #theprompt
Thank you – candles were the first thing that came to mind with this week’s prompt. Glad you liked it 🙂
Beautiful poem. And such lovely imagery. #theprompt
Thank you 🙂
There is something quite special about candlelight isn’t there? And you have captured that perfectly with your poem. X #theprompt
Thank you 🙂
Brilliant poem 🙂 I like the layout of your verses too x
Thank you – was playing around with a different rhyming format from the one I’m usually more comfortable with x
Ah I absolutely love, love, love how you’ve covered so many angles of what candlelight can be used for and sigify! #ThePrompt
Thank you – love the way that candles are used for so many different moments 🙂
Candles are so versatile aren’t they? Your poem captures each moment perfectly.
This is so very beautiful. I love what you have captured here – the sadness and happiness, the calm and serenity and remembrance that a candle can bring. Thank you for linking to Prose for Thought 🙂 x
Thank you – there are so many moments where we light candles and I was trying to capture some of that. Lovely to link up with Prose for Thought again 🙂