Out out brief candle

~ a candle is, by its nature, not sustainable ~
the candle was first lit in 1712;
a steam powered pump to extract floodwater from English coal mines
possibly the first time in history that humanity had a machine more powerful than an elephant to reliably do its work
the candle burned brightly
as new uses/new innovations
turned steam power into Gaia conquest power
"Iron Horses" laced continents
steamships huffed out to the open sea to slaughter whales by the thousands
for more light/more heat
streets illuminated, darkness vanquished
the candle was volcanic now, Promethean;
the whales were spared extinction
not by kindness nor compassion
but by the drilling of oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania
1859 ~ a crucial moment in the candle’s short life
it now grew so high it dimmed the stars
(they remain dim to this day)

horse drawn carriages melted downward like wax droplets
relegated to the candle’s side
replaced by automobiles
the flame was a furnace now
Carnegie, Edison, Ford stoked it to a seething inferno
industrial altar boys commencing a ceremony to set the Earth ablaze;

baptism by fire

soon skyscrapers pierced the sky 
Woolworth, Chrysler, Empire State


 giant candlesticks thrusting upward to catch the match of the sun
unstoppable now, or seemingly so
raising the temperature of the atmosphere itself!
down, down, the candle burns
all but spent;

its heat so intense now that we can't touch it
its light so blinding that we can’t see
how close to its nub it has burned

when the dying flame mutes/dims/extinguishes
I will huddle with you
I will need your warmth more than ever then