The candle sits on top of a base
And its flame is aglow, bringing light to the evening
But although it stands there, its flame, incandescent
What was supposed to bring joy, had brought about grieving
Beside the light, a girl stood still
Not showing a hint of pain or feeling
But deep within her, all the while,
It was she who did most of the mourning
Sinking slowly beneath her breath,
Her heart perished in agony,
A prayer with cries from earth she had sent
To her father above in the realms of peace
“Papa, please forgive the wrong I have done.
Once I had a papa, but now I have none.
I never meant for this thing to happen
But now you have really gone
“If only I had that snow globe kept
Safe and secure, and had not been inept
I must have spared your precious life;
Must have not lead us to all of this strife
That snow globe was my last reminder of you
But now it has spread on the floor
Of our house in a million, million broken pieces;
I can never hold you anymore”
Amongst the lamentation, there, hiding in between
A lad with a similar, guilty plea, unseen
His youthful eyes reflecting remorse
Recalling the things that had been:
“It lay there on top of a pedestal,
Where I could reach it and use it for play
So I took it, enticed by its elegance
Held my hand out to reach it
“But my hand slipped- a graceless mistake
And the rest had followed after
She screamed when she saw it, he slipped as he seized it.
And with one look I knew, from where I hid,
That it was I who had killed her father.”
The lights emanating from the candle had faded
The wax that had stuck to the podium had melted
All the guests who visited have fled
Except for the lad who had long kept his secret
Twenty-one years,
The agony concealed
Had scarred on his veins,
Had never healed
He sat all alone, recollecting the past
Feeling irredeemable shame
What had chased him for years, had come back at last,
And today was the end of the game
“This pain of the heart would have been less
If I had only, long ago, confessed
