There Was A Light

 

There was a light that shone so brightly

A spirit uniquely marking its own way

An omnipresent driving life force

That played its role in every passing day

 

It brought its energy to expand the circle

 Impacted all within its reaching clime

Tried to carve something to be proud of

The passage journaled through its time

 

The paths were not often free nor easy

Its dreams seldom settled to completion

For the light was burdened by life’s trials

Saw its share of hardship and depletion

 

But no light can shine forever brilliant

For time wears down its vibrant hold

A creeping fog moves in to lay its claim

To memories of each tale it once told

 

It flees the witness ghosts of yesterday

Fades the ledger of life’s joys and pains

Loved ones erased from recognition

Till mere wisp of former light remains

 

There’s a bitter cruelty to this larceny

A slow agonizing insult brought to fall

That dims the light for all who know

Left tasked to endure, cope, and recall

 

There was a light that shone so brightly

Amid a billion stars just like the sun

There’s no running from light’s madness

We’re all light’s madness on the run

 

 

                     s. paul (Aug. 2021)