Caught you like a firefly.
Kept you in my hands
and marveled at your light.
Thought you could guide me
through the darkness,
but my hands
restrained you.
Loved to look at you
and know that you
were mine,
but if either of us
what going to find
our way through
this ever-present night,
I was going
to have to let you go.
Open my hands
and you stayed put,
only for a moment
before you flew off.
Burning a streak,
tracer light
into the night,
so quickly
I could not follow.
I stumbled on along my way
for a while,
full of fear and regret.
But then
I saw your light
coming back to me.
I stood there in awe of you.
So beautiful
against the night.
I kept walking
and you
floated out ahead of me,
as if you knew the way.
One small light
was all I needed,
but what I needed more
was to let it go.
Light is for the darkness
and wings are for the sky.
Hands don’t need
to hold on
all the time.
DJR – 2022