the candle's close light

when: any quiet hour· where: within three feet· colour temp: 1900 K

at three feet the candle is enough. at four feet it is decoration. the close light is the working light of a candle: the small steady country where you can still read the page, still see the rim of the cup, still see the face across the table if the face is near.

it reveals the texture of the paper. it reveals the small wet shine of an eye. it reveals one hand and not the other. it makes the table the whole house for the duration of one breath and the next.

it hides the room. the room is a kind rumour beyond the third foot. it hides time, in the sense that time stops happening at the edge of the light. compare the far lamp, which is the same light at the wrong end of a conversation.

field note · t.h., late evening i measured the close light with a string: thirty-two inches from wick to the place where my page became another page. beyond that i could feel the words but not read them. inside it everything was, briefly, completely. see lighting a lamp.