Leave the Fire Lit

They’ll be here soon. Let’s leave them something true. We noticed the children watching Not the work, but how it’s done, How hands return the borrowed tool, How stories end with none. I saw the future in their listening, In the way they leaned in close, They weren’t asking for our answers— They were learning how to hold. I learned that care moves quietly, It doesn’t shout or stay, It slips into the things we leave When we finally walk away. Paths don’t need our names on them, Just clearing where we tread, So those who follow feel the ease Of where our feet once led. We don’t need to be remembered, We don’t need to be known, If the ground feels kinder When someone walks alone. Leave the fire lit, not blazing bright, Just enough to warm the night— The future doesn’t need our names, Just a little light. Legacy wasn’t carved in stone, It lived in what we chose, In fixing what we didn’t break, In tending what still grows. I learned the weight of living right Is lighter than it seems, When you carry it for others You never have to scheme. What if kindness is the signal That tells tomorrow “come”? What if leaving things in order Is how the world stays young? Leave the fire lit for strangers, Let the doorway stay wide, You don’t have to walk them home Just walk a mile inside. If the road feels softer later on, If the night feels less alone— Then we’ve done enough to say We left it better than our own. They’re here now. Good. The fire’s ready.