WHEN THE CANDLE'S SPENT AND THE STAR IS ASH IN YOUR EYES

WHEN THE CANDLE’S SPENT AND THE STAR IS ASH IN YOUR EYES

When the candle’s spent and the star is ash in your eyes,

the bell of your heart, an urn of midnight sunflowers,

to the darkness within, say, yes, I was a friend of the fireflies.

When love picks a fool and makes him wise;

when beauty’s a flash in the pan, and a false dawn, hours,

when the candle’s spent and the star is ash in your eyes

be the pivot of the stillness that swings the nightskies.

Be the unsung radiant of resurgent meteor showers.

To the darkness within say, yes, I was a friend of the fireflies.

Comets may buzz the sun; dragons, the moonrise,

lovers fall from the ladders of their fire-towers

when the candle’s spent and the star is ash in your eyes

may love and Lucifer remain enlightened allies,

your heart, a starmap to the blind wildflowers.

To the darkness within, say, yes, I was a friend of the fireflies.

When the furnace is cold, the chimney’s rife with magpies.

May the light feather you in its fledgling powers.

When the candle’s spent and the star is ash in your eyes,

to the darkness within, say, yes, I was a friend of the fireflies.

PATRICK WHITE