Tonight I Guard This Flame

How I cradle this trembling flame between my palms,
like a wounded bird whose wings beat against darkness.
It has been my companion through storms,
growing dimmer with each passing season,
until its gold became amber, then ash.

In the shadows I built my shelter around this failing ember,
while the wind's teeth tried to devour what remained.
Then you arrived,
like dawn breaking,
and with one breath scattered my careful vigil.

But oh, beloved, what you offered in return!
Your radiance split the sky like summer lightning,
flooding the world with impossible morning.

Now I carry this new fire,
bright as pomegranate seeds,
though I know even this may someday fade into the black throat of night.
Let me weep then,
let me sink into momentary defeat.

Because I have learned this truth: light returns,
always returns, like spring after winter,
like hope in the breast of morning,
like love in an empty room suddenly filled with sunlight.