Matched

A waft of heat
From the match I
Carry so delicately before me
Pushes up against my face
Despite my careful attention,
The faith I grab at a second’s notice,
The match burns out
Just before I reach the candle
And I wonder what that means

One time I threw away a
Match blown out to blackened char
And turned around to find my kitchen
Trashcan on fire
Flames licking upward
Where I thought everything was cold

I suppose what I want
More than anything
Is to feel loved without end
To coax one smoldering ember
Back into a candle’s flame of warmth
Without carelessly burning everything down