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By Katherine E. Schneider
Suddenly all I see
is the lantern in my hand;
assaulted by rain,
its flame alive.
Midnight came fast,
and darkness edged in
between the trees,
across the leaf-layered ground,
and left me lost.
I remember the evening,
how the sunset
flashed on my eyes
like an old filmstrip;
bright and silent,
light as breath, and ancient,
etched onto my memory.
Hypnotized,
I fell asleep.
Later, when the storms rolled in,
they washed those watercolors away—
bled every image wet and heavy,
ruined that ethereal page
and woke me in a flood of gray.
I almost drowned for shock and sadness
until I lifted up my arm;
and I could see the step before me,
and the next one after that.
I must move to be rescued,
to find a way beyond this place.
The flame defies the dark,
and I see I am not alone;
there are others waking in the night,
and lifting their lanterns,
walking home.
Katherine E. Schneider is a graduate of Fairfield University and is currently pursuing an MFA in writing with a concentration in poetry at Fairfield University’s low-residency MFA program. When she is not working at a publishing company in New York City, she can be found in either suburban New York or Connecticut spending time with friends and family or enjoying other creative outlets which inspire her writing, such as playing the guitar or classical double bass. She is working on a collection of poems about Biblical figures, faith in daily life, and good reasons to rejoice.
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