Out, Out Brief Candle

Back in college I had a really bad year. It was 1989 or 1990, I can’t be sure which. I was at a friend’s apartment on New Year’s Eve, just the two of us. We scrounged up a black candle from somewhere and lit it as midnight approached. On the twelfth bell I blew out the candle, closing out the year that had brought me so much pain.

I did the same for 2019.