Carrying a Candle

Carrying a Candle by Jan Sutch Pickard

Carrying a candle
from one little place of shelter 
to another 
is an act of love.

To move through the huge 
and hungry darkness, step by step, 
against the invisible wind 
that blows for ever around the world, 
carrying a candle, 
is an act of foolhardy hope.

Surely it will be blown out: 
the wind is contemptuous, 
the darkness cannot comprehend it. 
How much light can this tiny flame shed 
on all the great issues of the day? 
It is as helpless as a newborn child.

Look how the human hand, 
that cradles it, has become translucent: 
fragile and beautiful; foolish and loving. 
Step by step.

The wind is stronger than this hand, 
and the darkness infinite 
around this tiny here-and-now flame 
that wavers, but keeps burning: 
carried with such care 
through an uncaring world 
from one little place of shelter to another. 
An act of love.

The light shines in the darkness 
and the darkness can never put it out.