artifact

This is my response to the MagpieTales #34 visual writing prompt. Go to the link to get to the responses of other writers.

Artifact

There once was a point
to this old lantern
that now only reflects
what light slips through
somber drawn drapes

Once it had a purpose in
repelling night’s dark hand.
Its flickerings lit dim stairwells,
dispelled the haunts of nightmares,
revealed vague truths hidden
within shadowy eyes.

Useless in lonely oblivion,
it waits for storms
that devour the sky
and send the world
into frightful corners
of unexpected night.

15 thoughts on “artifact

  1. I love the way you “read” the lamp, like a psychic using psychometry to find the spirit of the dead in the object. You picked up on the valid, practical use of this old, out-of-date thing and showed how lovely it is still, how useful, if only it would rain and lights would all go out again. A poignant tribute to a once common, now precious object. Nice Magpie post!!

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