Candescent

I am the sun,
Still bright,
A sun all the stars forget every night,

I am the sun,
That has lighted a thousand wars,
On a better earth all that blood should have made me shine less,
But I came out brighter anyway,
To laugh away humanity's ignorance and its sorrows,
To light away all the darkness you all think you keep hidden,

You think you know of eternity?
You know what it feels like to watch centuries of memories die without having the choice to close your eyes?

You think you know of desperation?

Do you know what it feels like to die each day and yet have no choice but to keep living for it's sake?

To chase after moons that can never be yours, but to keep illuminating them nonetheless?

I know,
I know what it means to be forgotten behind clouds,
To watch hope die in the arms of a mother, a lover, a child, to watch essence slowly drain out of life,

I know what rain brings,
How laughter evaporates into tears,
How love agonizes into smoke and ash, and oceans overflow with crimson,

I know what humanity has forgotten and will keep forgetting,
That there no journeys too long or wounds too dark,

I have seen it all,
Blinding brightness and perpetual darkness,

Yet like a fool, I keep rising,
I rise to tell you it is okay to live another sad day,
To remind you, nothing ends in this world but people,
And that the day can still emerge and take away the grief of a thousand burials,

I rise to feel the warmth I can never emulate,
The candescence of a smile,
The generosity of a hand holding another through the storm,
The love that can shine brighter than I ever can,

So maybe I rise,
Only for that glimpse of self-lessness,
And bravery and courage,
To see the beauty in this chaos of life.