small, the tiny flame in front of me and i can see hundreds of little humans inside of it. it sways to the side and i see how they've fallen, it reaches just a little higher and it looks tall, it is proud.

every life that is lost every single day is important. it means something. it always does.

i have seen you lose your faith. i have seen it in old men who will never change, and not because they can't. i have seen it in those who look up to them and believe hatred that spills from thought that will only hurt us all more. i have seen it in a woman thankful for the death of people she could not have known, and now, will never know. i have seen it on the faces of those who believe so much hurt can be passed off as deserved.

and i have seen it alive. i have seen a human breathe for another. and i have seen strangers cradling small noggin's, hiding eyes and trying to make it okay, even though it couldn't be, not now.

i have seen so much and i have not lost faith in any of you. it will all change soon. everything. life is not the same anymore and i feel it in wind, in words, in thoughts.

i lit a candle tonight and i lit it for everyone. i lit it for the people who are not here to light one. i lit it for those who are here, the angry ones, the sad ones, the hurting and the relieved.. this candle is for hope. i am filled with it.

we are all here on this little planet, together.. perhaps some day, we will all stop wanting to hurt eachother.