Jacqueline Jules – ‘Forty-Four Perfect Candles’

This small blue box, 

four inches tall, 

holds forty-four candles.

Exactly enough for eight nights

provided one or more

are not broken, misshapen, 

or missing a wick. 

I’ve never trusted one box 

to last me all eight nights.

I buy two boxes to be sure,

just like at the grocery,

where I get two cartons of eggs,

so I’ll still have enough  

if a few break in the car. 

I’ve always lived my life

as Joseph advised Pharaoh,

storing grain away 

for seven years of famine.

Until the year I pull candles 

from a single box

for eight consecutive nights,

and never find one broken, 

misshapen, or missing a wick.