"Ask and you shall receive" (poem)

They say: “ask and you shall receive”,

but for so long I asked,

bowed my head in sorrow and prayed.

The reassuring words of hope I'd hear at church

could only last me until the organ stopped,

and then I was alone again.

Hope truly is like a flame,

without fuel it will flicker and die,

so that only smoke and darkness remains.

And every tear seeks to drown it,

soaking the fuel so entirely

reigniting it seems impossible.

Motivational words can only do so much,

until they lose all their power

and come to feel ridiculous.

“Ask and you shall receive.”

Well who am I to ask?

Who can possibly give so much?

Then there's nothing left to burn,

the cold bite of the dark sinks into my back,

leaving me to cry in fear of the dying of the light.

But then I met you, your smile, your laugh,

and the flame of hope burst to life,

enveloping me in its burning embrace.

And I know one day we will part,

as certain as the night follows the day,

just as no flower can bloom forever.

But for as brief as our time is,

I am grateful to have received it

because I've been asking for so long.

-Zero