Happy Birthday

On my birthday cake, each year hence,

I don’t want one more candle added, set ablaze,

but only a single candle, just one,

the thin waxy ones of my youth and childhood,

those spiraling pastels stuck into a rich

frosting, foamy peaks of gooey sweetness

smeared on my face, coloring my cheeks with chocolate,

just one candle, lit, its flame a-flickering,

waxy teardrops dripping down, slowly melting

this single candle held upright, not as

a reminder of time passing, old age gaining

on us, one more year gone by

and moving us closer to the grave,

but a single candle flickering to celebrate

this single life I’ve lived, still burning,

just a single wish for my life

moving onward, well beyond a candle snuffed

or blown out to seal the wish:

each year hence, a single candle,

what I want, just one,

on my birthday.