W. H. AUDEN'S LIGHT

FEB 21, 1907

The light

may be out

by the flickering flame
on the street where
we heard of your passing

as the snow is a landscape
along windows by church

with the odor of incense
at the last peal of bells

yet we by our lamp stands

waiting to remember you again

at over coming misunderstanding

and betrayal

in a confessional search

of our own age's delusion

walking by the rails
of second thoughts

with a poet's words

in a free spirited conclusion

lighting a candle for you

in my near sleeping eyes

thinking of the threshold

power of a traced reunion

when future and the past

shine in on glow.