"The Weight of Lights" by Kenneth Tokuno

Moths swerve to candles as the weight
Of light pulls them in orbit about a flame.

I look north from the Sacramento Airport
To the oak trees bunched on Elverta Road
Where my parents’ home once gleamed
Like a candle of love wrought wax drawing
Out my childhood of old December nights.

Now that house is gone, moved to a place
Where the light does not penetrate as far.

Now it is a December morning rushing me
Back to Hawai‘i, where my wife and children
Glow with warmth. That glow draws me home
As a parent. If light has no mass, how can lights
Past and present weigh so much within my chest?
What does a moth do between two candles?

---

Kenneth Tokuno spent his youth in Sacramento where his father had a farm north of the airport. He has published over 100 poems in journals all over the west coast and Hawaii. His book of poems, Orchard, was published by Bellowing Ark Press in 2007. He has lived in Hawaii since 1993. His poetry is usually inspired by his relationships to family and friends.

---