Birthday Candles

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There's so many kinds

Of birthday candles

The simple and short

Twisted and colorful ones

Numbering your years on your meticulously designed cake

The large and thick numbers

Highlighting your new age

And then there's the tall ones

To count down

As the years go by

With every passing year

The wax cascades further down

The candle begins to shrink

And shrink

The more it burns

They cave in on themselves

After being lit up

Again

And again

And again

A little model volcano

The wax representing rivers of lava

Flowing down the sides

Birthdays come and go

The candle light burns low

Blue and orange flames flickering and dancing

Casting shadows on my face

Make a wish

They say

Make a wish and blow out your candle

I wish

To leave

To be free from this town

To find friends

Who care

Who remember my birthday

Who don't ruin the party

By making it all about them

I wish

I wish

I wish

That one of these things

Can come true

Just one

And maybe that'll be enough

To make me happy

But birthday candles wishes don't come true

Or I'd be out of this town by now

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