Lantern Fade

The lamp stays

The lamp stays where you lit it

I woke on the near bank,

lit a light in the reeds Then I waded to the far

side where the work was meant to be Reached back for the

glow, but the glow stayed home Hands full of water,

working in the dark alone

The lamp stays where you lit it

The lamp stays where you lit it

Wake where you mean to work Wake where you mean to work

So I asked the old water,

had the current changed its mind

Found the river turned this summer,

finds the nearest shore in time

Now I open my eyes on the stone where I stand

And the light comes up easy,

right here in my hand

You can't carry the morning across the water.

You can only wake up where you are.

Two of us,

two stones, two small lights,

and neither one can dim the other.

Stay on your own stone.

Keep your own light.

Two frogs on the water,

each one on a stone

Each with a lantern that belongs to them alone

If we crowd the one lily we will spill each other's oil

So we each keep a shore

and we each keep the toil

The

lamp stays where you

lit

it The lamp stays where you lit it Wake where you mean

to work

Wake where you mean to work

The lamp stays

Where you woke

The lamp stays where you lit it

So light it where you are