Tealight

By Madilyn Hufford

I like tiny impulse purchases

Never more than a dollar

And I saw a tealight on my mother’s desk for free

I put it in a glass jar

Set it on my vanity

For a candlelight dinner of bread and soup, pepper and broth

I carried it to bed with me

It brings no heat, uses batteries

But the tiny light is my relief

I remind myself of simpler times

Before you were ever mine and

The glow of her kitchen was the only thing I saw