Mending My Own Light – Reviewed

Brenda Marie

Mending my own light, a quiet task,
A gentle hand beneath the mask.
Where cracks once lay and shadows fell,
I gather pieces I know so well.

The fire flickers, soft and slow,
A spark of truth begins to glow.
Each shard of fear, each tangle of doubt,
I mend with care, I work them out.

…

You may find the rest of the poem here.

Poem: Mending My Own Light

© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes 

Analysis

This poem is about healing and rebuilding, not by erasing pain but by turning it into something meaningful. The speaker describes the process of putting themselves back together, not as a way to return to who they were, but as a way to grow into something even stronger. The imagery of cracks, shadows, and shards of fear suggests past pain, but the speaker does not treat these as things to be erased. Instead, they are gathered, stitched together, and transformed. The idea that struggle is necessary for real change is central to the poem. The line “The storms I’ve weathered, the tears I’ve known, / Are the soil from which my light has grown” compares emotional hardship to the way plants grow from the earth. Storms, which seem destructive, actually nourish the ground, clear away the weak, and create space for stronger roots to take hold. The poem suggests that personal struggles do the same—they lay the foundation for resilience.

The structure of the poem reflects this gradual process of healing. It begins with quiet, careful movements—the speaker gathers the pieces, mends them, and tends to their fire with patience. The rhythm is steady, and the short lines create a sense of deliberate effort. As the poem moves forward, the language shifts. Words like “bold” and “fierce” appear, showing that the speaker is growing in confidence. By the final stanza, the tone is no longer cautious but strong. The repetition of “reborn” emphasizes transformation. The speaker has not just repaired themselves—they have become something new.

One of the most powerful images in the poem is the idea of stitching wounds with gold “I stitch the dark with threads of gold.” This could be compared to Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer, which highlights the cracks rather than hiding them. The idea behind Kintsugi is that breakage is part of an object’s history, and repairing it in a way that makes it more beautiful adds to its value. The poem takes this idea and applies it to personal healing. The speaker does not try to erase their past pain but instead weaves it into their strength. Their wounds become part of their light, just as the gold-filled cracks in Kintsugi become part of the beauty of the repaired piece.

Fire is another important symbol in the poem. It flickers softly at first, delicate and uncertain, but as the speaker works through their pain, it becomes something steady and unbreakable. Fire can be destructive, but it can also be a force of renewal. In nature, wildfires clear away dead growth, making room for new life. The speaker’s fire does something similar—it transforms rather than destroys. The line “a fire that’s mine, forever alight” suggests that this strength is not temporary. It is something lasting, something fully owned by the speaker.

The tone of the poem is hopeful, but it does not ignore struggle. It acknowledges pain without letting it take over. The speaker does not dwell on what broke them; instead, they focus on the process of mending. The way healing is portrayed is realistic. It is not about pretending the past never happened, and it is not about waiting for someone else to fix things. The speaker takes an active role in their own recovery. The process is slow, requiring patience and care, but in the end, it leads to something even stronger than what was there before.

The poem’s message is clear—healing is not about going back to the way things were. It is about taking what was broken and turning it into something new. The storm that once seemed destructive becomes the soil for new growth. The cracks that once seemed like flaws are stitched with gold. The fire that once flickered uncertainly now burns steady and strong. The speaker does not just recover; they transform. The poem captures the idea that struggle is not just something to endure—it is something that can shape a person into something even brighter.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash