Harsh Light

To begin, your work is soft and gentle,
A warm and varied glow for each you touch,
Your subtle heat a welcome boon,
To those grown cold and numb,

Fear and blindness lifts as you advance,
Many emerge to accept your gentle caress,
But you are still unsatisfied,
You seek to conquer all,

Softness turns to piercing needles,
Warmth turns to searing flame,
Varied hues turn to none but white,
Your boon turns all to slaves,

Your ambition destroys all beauty,
Forcing all to reflect your intensity,
To take on your extreme character,
Be driven into darkness or to fall,

The ones who sought you out,
Now hide from your severity,
Your reign could not last forever,
Your aspirations could not succeed,

Those who neither need nor want you,
Cannot be reached by harder striving,
Realizing this you falter in mourning,
For those who you've caused to fall,

The heat remains, but you again grow gentle,
Remembering those happy times,
When you were greeted by those who loved you,
Requiting your soft and warm embrace,

In your exhaustion, one last ditch effort,
You seek to amend the past,
In arrays of color you speak to the survivors,
Then you are quickly gone,

Without you it grows so cold...