The Lantern I Carry

Since you left home

Everything is dark and cold

Even the moon hides from me

So I turn back to this lantern

The only warmth my soul still knows

****

On my saddest days

I lie on the earth

Your lantern and its glow

And for a moment

I am home

I took it from a corner of your room

The one no one thought to look through

For it holds just a crumb of your warmth

The only piece I still own

****

People say I should let you go

But what they don’t know is that light disappeared the day you left

So tonight I let your lantern glow

The only thing that keeps me sane

Warm against my chest

This lantern is all I have left

****

I’ve carried it through many storms

through silence so loud it chokes

It guides me on the nights when even the stars can't help me find home

Sometimes I swear I hear your voice dancing with the flame

Whispering

Go live

Keep going

Give your heart a rest

So I never blow it out

A flickering flame

The only proof you were once mine to claim