Lantern for the Lost

Build a lantern

out of old questions

and the shadows of rooms

you never entered.

light it anyway—

someone somewhere

might be looking

for a way home

they have never known.

Hang it in a tree,

let it swing in the wind

so lost birds

can find their branches,

so wandering hearts

can trace your hands

back to themselves.

and if no one comes—

still, it burns,

a quiet promise

that light is never wasted,

even when unseen.