by Marilyn Irwin

When I was younger, my light shone bright, my light shone loud

Everyone saw it, quite quickly in fact

I knew it was there, which made it shine brighter

It made me care, made me smile, made me proud to be me.

Then one year, the light dimmed. 

It didn’t shine so bright.

It didn’t shine so loud.

I lost me with the light.

I can’t tell you why, cause I don’t really know.

One day I was me,

The next I was another.

Others saw awkward gray and not so bright yellow.

People weren’t drawn to my light, like a moth to a flame, like before

Instead, I struggled to shine. 

I tried igniting the light over and over

But failure made it extinguish. My self doubt consumed the flame.

I missed my light. 

I missed my “me”.

As the next year progressed, I changed even more

This time, the change made me older

Maybe wiser. 

My light started to spark. 

It’s starting to flicker now 

It’s not as bright as it once was

It’s not as loud as it once was

It’s not the same light as before.

It’s more mature now, more calm, more quiet 

But I hope that someone, sometime, sees it. 

And I hope they are drawn to it 

And I hope it helps to ignite another light

That maybe, has been put out by self doubt and change 

© 2016 ck’s days