Buried Lanterns
Poem
Let us be buried lanterns,
hidden deep beneath the soil,
waiting for the sun to coax us back,
anything.
Enough to shake from our souls the shadows and doubt,
the fears that cling and refuse to go,
no matter how hard we try to rise,
let it leave us glowing,
honoring the darkness that taught
when we feel buried yet bright.
We have wandered through deeper valleys and climbed their heights,
a sense that we could have turned back, right here
in this shadowed moment,
but instead remained buried lanterns.
It flowed through us, the loss, the longing, the wonder,
left us transformed now than we were before
and offered us a spark.
A refuge for the weary traveler,
oh, how we craved its warmth,
the earth, now rich and open,
a lantern’s glow, buried yet radiant.
Let us be open enough
to embrace the cracks in our stories,
but we must tell our children they are treasures,
and show them how their dreams can illuminate the night.
And teach them there is magic in waiting,
only to love with fierceness,
and cry until
and leap from the shadows, soaring,
and to keep their hearts ignited
so something may light the way,
anything.
We counted the moments —
is today enough for a spark?
it flickers in the dark,
and their spirits
are left buried lanterns.
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