Burnt Out

She saw the candle start flickering

Spluttering and spitting a little

Bright orange wick-end

Sending spirally tendrils of dark smoke to signal

Its imminent extinction

Quite an analogy, she thought

Her snuffer in hand

Endings always mean new beginnings, right?

It’s not even an actual flame now

So why was she wavering?

She was that candle

Used - at their convenience

Whenever they wanted

An agreeable warm reliable glow

Implacable in the background

She was the light

But only when they let her - when they lit her

Her calming essence soothed and calmed the surrounding chaos

But face it, she was mostly there just for show

To the side, seen but not heard

Pffft.

A final farty splutter and it was out

In a cooling pool of wax

It had it’s days of admiration and appreciation

Today marks it’s use-by date

Yeah, it’s quite the analogy, she thought.

Out.