burnt lanterns

all round the pavilion
hangs lanterns of multitudes of colours
like a second moon from afar
it gleams in the night sky

like a beacon of hope
it burns on adventurously
undaunted by the prevailing winds
it stands unfluttered.

of childhood incandescence
memories of a time past
of a time simpler
with no care in the world

alas the candles burn no more
the wax a clump of shapeless existence
a mere shadow of its glorious past
lanterns burnt
beyond any measure of hope.

despair. nostalgia
all at once
salvage no more
lost forever.