Once, her eyes were alight,
dancing like mellow torch beams
searching for a whistler in the dark.
Eyes melting, her kindness tingled,
mingling the warmth of toasted hands
with the cradling of hot-cupped drinks
steaming adrift with warmth.
Eyes kindling, she smiled soft secrets,
aglow of red-remembered embers sharing winks.
She looked about her and watched with calm grace.
But ultimately, intimately,
her eyes shone, twin beacons gleaning the crowd
gathered for this:
her special shining.
Once, she had glanced away,
to a place a time ago,
where empty sockets stared back,
unblinking in the stark dark.
After moments, spent-spluttered candles burnt out,
gutted beyond limp-flamed, licked exhaustion.
But her son looked on, afire,
rockets cascading to his childhood,
her eyes still sparking
a blue-lit tinder touch of flaring flame.
But ultimately, intimately,
her eyes shone on, glowing through the gloom,
flowing through this:
the light and line of recognition.