Sunday, August 24, 2014




The Lanterns
to Annie

A clear, pristine night,
blemished only by the lack of stars.
Music loudly coruscates around my cranium
as I sit in a beach bar.

Suddenly, an orange dot comes from absolutely nowhere
flying up and up, closer and closer.
Not as fast as a shooting star,
but just as bright.

And when the dot is as high and as far
as the stars themselves,
it begins to fade, and fade,
and fade some more…

until it is gone.

“It’s a lantern”,  my best friend tells me.
Her face could be a star unto itself,
and her body glistens with the sweat
and humidity of the night.

And rather than me mourn for her whenever
it is she goes to Heaven,
she wants me to light a lantern
and send it skyward.

“It’s better than standing around in a black suit
weeping for you,” I tell her.
She smiles, because we know it is the truth.