I Lit a Candle

I lit a candle,

Not for scent nor sight — to curate repose

Nearby I sat, bathed in flickering glow, shrouds constricting darkness,

Wondering.

Did I brave night, Autumn chill, solitude?

Lone wanderers seeking mountainside escape?

Reason unclaimed, yet wisdom.

Surely, I’m a stranger here.

Past darkness there dances across walls

Shimmering reminders, proximal memories.

In night, it rests or runs, sings, or listens

One for whom the world stills.

I lit a candle,

What for, never mattered.

The flame gives but shadow

Of starlight, night’s giver.