A Birthday Candle

A Birthday Candle
Donald Justice

Thirty today, I saw
The trees flare briefly like
The candles on a cake,
As the sun went down the sky,
A momentary flash,
Yet there was time to wish

After first reading this poem, the author portrays a feeling of sadness, while still showing some hope. Although he believes himself to be aging quickly, he states that "there was time to wish," which suggests that he still has the ability to do more in his lifetime. Also, the imagery of the trees and the sun appearing to be like the candles on a cake shows that he is getting older and no longer receives birthday cakes, and instead must essentially create his own. In order to achieve the effect of the poem, he writes in form poetry, as he does not use a rhyming scheme but uses a metric pattern instead. Also, the entire poem is essentially a metaphor, as he is associating the sunset with candles on a birthday cake. Lastly, the imagery of the scene makes for a much more vivid picture of what seems to him to be a birthday cake. Overall, through the various poetic devices used, Justice is able to convey how rapidly everything seems to happen in his life through the "momentary flash," but afterwards shows that it is never too late to do something great.