Her Candles Are Blown Out

The candles are blown out.

A secret wish wisps away with serpentine smoke,

And now you feel the youth fade out

When the air is cleared of this cloak.

When the glow on your face

And the cheering subsides,

When the previous you

Time no longer abides.

When you are still you but,

The world sees you different.

As a woman running free,

Might be seen as delinquent.

My face is still smooth

And my hair is still lustrous,

My body still luscious,

But my mind now more conscious

Of the me that is gone,

Who can never return.

But perhaps,

Leaving her,

A new life I can earn.

The candles are out

and the room seems so dark,

But reigniting myself,

Must be done with a spark.

Keep a lighter on hand

To chase shadows off,

So the mark I might make,

Might be considered enough.

CONTEXT: Considering the world and my place in it is exactly what my upcoming birthday has made me do. It's a big and terrifying one. After the parade brought to mind that moment after the candles are blown out and it all finally hits you. It's a celebration of life but also a fearful noting of its passing. I think most people can relate to this feeling. As a woman I feel there is a certain other significance and pressure that comes with leaving your twenties. You might look no different but you're conscious of maintaining your looks now, you feel this pressure to act and be different, to be sensible or settled, to have achieved certain milestones. I reflected on how this could be the start of a healthier chapter for me. The poem comes from my fear but is ultimately a message of hope. I hope whoever is reading this might take away that message too.