{"id":5400,"date":"2026-07-05T19:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T09:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=5400"},"modified":"2026-07-05T19:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T09:51:08","slug":"memories-of-a-lantern-keeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=5400","title":{"rendered":"Memories of a Lantern Keeper"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">I worked in colours no sun could hold,<br>in blues that bruised the air,<br>in golds that kept their heartbeat<br>long after candles guttered there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">Montsalvat was just young then,<br>all scaffolds, dust, and dream;<br>yet something in its mortar<br>knew more of me than seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">I felt it first in the winter:<br>a sunken tremor in the lead,<br>a warmth inside the glass I cut<br>as though the glass itself had bled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">My lantern was my confidant,<br>my witness and my sin;<br>I fed it slivers of my life<br>and it fed back its grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">They said I left in \u201928.<br>They said I lost my way.<br>But walls remember differently<br>than people ever say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">The cellar called me downward,<br>three knocks upon cold stone;<br>a rhythm not quite a heartbeat,<br>definitely not my own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">I followed with my lantern,<br>its glow my borrowed breath;<br>Finding the place where colour<br>leans too close to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">If you should find my panel,<br>unfinished, half\u2011awake,<br>know this: I did not vanish.<br>I was taken for the sake<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">of every shard that wanted<br>a life beyond the frame;<br>for glass is only silent<br>until you speak its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-sitebg-background-color has-background wp-block-paragraph\">So listen when it pulses.<br>Step lightly when it gleams.<br>I am still here in the lantern,<br>and the lantern keeps my dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I worked in colours no sun could hold,in blues that bruised the air,in golds that kept their heartbeatlong after candles guttered there. Montsalvat was just &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19,7],"tags":[93,233,677,676,21],"class_list":["post-5400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","category-travelarium","tag-art","tag-history","tag-lanterns","tag-montsalvat","tag-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-1p6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3528,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3528","url_meta":{"origin":5400,"position":0},"title":"Apology 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Book","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=120"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rachael-crowe-jK8JZGgBtHM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rachael-crowe-jK8JZGgBtHM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rachael-crowe-jK8JZGgBtHM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rachael-crowe-jK8JZGgBtHM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rachael-crowe-jK8JZGgBtHM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, 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