The Illuminating Spark: Little Candle

A poem about faith in the face of climate grief.

(Image description: A photo of a pair of hands that hold a glass candleholder with a lit candle inside. The light dimly shows the person’s clothing in the dark.) Credit: Photo by ErnAn Solozábal on Unsplash

Little Candle

I am a candle,

the flame in my heart

an offering in everything I do.

Its glow and rhythm

flickering in time

with the tides of life,

the heart drifts.

In the grieving Earth,

the torrents of floods and fires,

with the loss of what was,

and the unknown of what will be,

the spark wavers.

I am a candle,

sputtering in the dark

with hope the only fuel.

The flame of my heart

burns despite the creeping woe,

an offering in the dimming future.