Christmas Lights
Stand back and flip the switch: turn on the lights.
Roped ribbons form a canopy – red, green –
To bathe a smile free from shade and excites
Clean mint breath; rosy-cheeked future unseen
But sure to shine. From this point, look higher
To snowflake constellations – purple, blue –
Cold distance doesn’t dim them. To inspire
A gasp of wonder, a radiant true
Spotlight falls on an unbroken street. Look,
These lights flicker as they’re meant – simply white –
No black. Don’t believe that the darkness took
Them; they blink stubborn sparks into the night
Of clouds, determined and fleet. Last displayed,
Fray-fused, first remembered - nothing but gold –
Old bulbs that do not match, you can’t evade
Their glow. These lights will have their stories told.
This was inspired by the beautiful Christmas lights in Warsaw, but it's also about my wonderful friends and family who are (get your buckets ready...) lights in my life. So all kinds of folks, all kinds of lights. You're all in there... I think this needs some work, but getting this far was tough enough because it's that pesky emotion thing again, I'm a much better writer when I stay away from the girlie business of feelings...
ReplyDeleteZoe, this is a wonderful poem already and it will be worth polishing if you can bear to! I love the optimism, the 'stubborn sparks', and the last line is fantastic - 'These lights will have their stories told.' The first two stanzas seem a little more obvious but the poem grows as it progresses, so maybe work on the first two stanzas without losing the optimism implicit in these? Aside from the last line, the third stanza is my favourite.
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