A Candlelit Life
They flicker from each corner of the tiny, tidy room encased in fluted glass or cracked plastic Her candles illuminate her life like hooded eyes that see all the drama and tedium that surround her A broken candleholder wounds her- the gleaming shards slice her surface and expose soft pink marrow She lives in a warren of walls scarred by a century of age and years of neglect; flourescent tubes on her cracked ceiling are only stark decoration; she lives by candlelight because no wires full of life run to her tiny, tidy home on the upmost floor of an ancient and deserted house Flimsy barriers of cardboard and household debris guard her front and back door and each landing of her twisted stairs; these monuments to her fear seem far more substantial than the wavering beacons that provide her vision For warmth, she stirs her fireplace of bits of paper and liquid wax held in a tin that once stored yesterday's meal In the solitude among her candles turbulent numbness slides into veins below her swollen wrists She cooks her quiet death by candlelight in the privacy that happens when nobody cares. Written February 7th, 2002 © on Feb 07 2002 04:24 AM PST 10 • 0
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"They flicker..."