LIGHT THAT STAYS

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

-Psalm 34:18 KJV

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"Grief is perhaps the most democratic of human experiences. It asks for no credentials and respects no borders. It is the quiet, persistent underside of love. It simply demands a witness. In that way, to grieve is to participate in one of the few truly universal human traditions."

-Dreamy Poetess

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LIGHT THAT STAYS

by Dreamy Poetess

Tea gone cold on the windowsill

Your book half-open on my knee

I read your favorite line out loud

Hear you answering in me

Dust in the air like little stars

Dancing where your hand once stayed

I trace your name along the margin

Every letter softly frayed

You are the light that stays

After the candle fades

Glow in the quiet grey

Breathing in the break of day

Love is the thread that won’t let go

Running through the ache I hold

You are the light that stays

You are the light that stays

Night leans in on the balcony

Far towns flicker: come and go

I send a promise to the darkness

That I will choose the gentle glow

Every sorrow folds like paper

Cradled in these open hands

I give it to the still small silence

Trust there’s more than I can understand

When the questions rush

When my courage shakes

I will close my eyes

And lean where your warmth remains

Every broken piece

Turns to gentle flame

I am not alone

I speak your name

Page turned down and the room grows still

I whisper thanks into the air

For every loss that led to love

For every shadow you made rare

(To the grieving soul that never forgets how to love.)

Image, generated through Google Gemini.