Lucia Cherciu

COUNTING CANDLES

Her mother had three, the last one
when the kids were in college.

When her two boys were in high school
her aunt had one:
they were twin girls.

Her neighbor had three
although she kept building
additions to her house.

Her sister-in-law said
she would have kept them all
had she known
they would turn out so well.

Those were hard times,
they said, and knitted bread rolls
to take to church on special days,
counting candles to light
for the living and for the departed.

Lucia Cherciu was born in Romania and came to the United States in 1995. She teaches English at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY and her latest book of poetry, Edible Flowers (Main Street Rag, 2015), was a finalist for the Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize. Her poetry has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and for Best of the Net. Her web page can be found at luciacherciu.webs.com.