You May Have Left the Candles Burning

Poetry

You may have left the candles burning.
You slept under those steady flames.
Do you remember the last thought that
fizzled into the first image of dreams?

By the time you woke up,
All but smoke is dissolved.

Don’t you see?
Your heart is a flame.
          It never sleeps.

Don’t go searching for melted wax,
nor the vapour in the air.
The night holds no secret other than a
rested brain.

Now that the palms are well rubbed together, warm
Lay them on the face.
It’s a new day.

E. Okereke
Berlin, 07.09.2025