These Are My JOTtings, Part #2

Shakespearean Sonnet: "The Lanterns"

The ashen snow coats the city streets in the fall.
Two candles burn in the sunny, morning light.
All hopeful hearts now black in a silent call.
Forgetting long past, yesterday's delight.

The day a broken canvas masterpiece.
The night a sobbing cloud of head-hung rain.
Each ghostly face of ash as drips increase.
Astonied in the city. "Lasting stain."

A long walk finds a coffee shop so rare.
A place to sip a cup, remove the pain.
The window through my thoughts to mull and stare.
Two lanterns stand, unlit in subtle rain.

"Oh, Lord, forgive us. Light the votive light.
The lantern shines, again, by You made right."

by Jay O’Toole
on September 11th, 2020