LOVE Poem: Temporary Lanterns, by Yleana Mower

Everyone knows my story
I’ve got seventy-foot-long magic hair and I live in a tower
I had been here for eighteen years, waiting to finally leave and be free
I didn’t want to spend any longer being my mother’s flower

A man in a blue vest with a brown satchel came to my tower one day
I hit him with a frying pan, everyone knows that
But he ended up having everything that I wanted, everything that I needed
An escape from my life, an escape from everything in my past

We climbed down the tower and ran away to the kingdom
I told him my dream of seeing the lanterns
He knew everything important that I held near and dear to me
And I knew right away that this man not only met but wrote all of my standards

He took me onto the water to watch the lanterns rise
I watched in awe as I let my hopes fly encased in fire and paper
Eugene had saved me and when I looked at him I knew
That whatever love was, it was him I wanted to give mine to

But when we reached the land once more I felt everything fall
There was a hole in my heart that I couldn’t quite figure out
I’d done exactly what I wanted and he had been the one to help me
So there was no reason for it but I was filled with doubt

Eugene walked away, going to find more wood
I had put all my trust in him, I knew he’d come back
But then the shadows were slowly taking over my mind
And I felt like I was slowly but surely falling under attack

I couldn’t escape the thoughts in my mind
I couldn’t escape the fears that threatened to become real
I took deep breaths but it didn’t quite help
When I looked around and didn’t see him, I went numb and couldn’t even feel

Eugene was gone and wasn’t going to help me
He wasn’t going to come and save me like he’d done just before
He wouldn’t be there as the lanterns faded from the sky
He was only there for his benefit and nothing more

I felt myself fading just like my lantern in the dark
Dizziness took over and I was on the brink of the end
It was Mother who saw me and took me in her arms
It was Mother who was there for me and saved me instead

I followed her home back to the tower that I once felt was a trap
Back to the tower that I once felt was a prison
I promised her that I’d never try to leave again
Because the lanterns that I once dearly loved now were the villain