This small blue box,
four inches tall,
holds forty-four candles.
Exactly enough for eight nights
provided one or more
are not broken, misshapen,
or missing a wick.
I’ve never trusted one box
to last me all eight nights.
I buy two boxes to be sure,
just like at the grocery,
where I get two cartons of eggs,
so I’ll still have enough
if a few break in the car.
I’ve always lived my life
as Joseph advised Pharaoh,
storing grain away
for seven years of famine.
I won’t believe in miracles.
Until the year I pull candles
from a single box
for eight consecutive nights,
and never find one broken,
misshapen, or missing a wick.
originally published at Of the Book.
