Silent Prayers

Silent prayers

Guilt gnaws
I don’t pray enough
Coins in my pocket
A candle in my hand
The gaze of Jesus
Safe in his mother’s embrace
Looks down upon
A rippling wave of flames
Candle stubs
Clustered together
Dripping wax
My own
Tall and virgin
Bows to the flame of another
A bright tongue of fire
Licks
And strains upward
A thread of smoke
Spirals
Silent, my candle speaks
Saying what I will not wait
To put into words