Unnoticed Flames Poem by Oluwatosin Thomas

I
I built a fire in the hollows of night,
fed it with branches of marrow and dream.
The sparks leapt upward, eager for sight,
but vanished like whispers inside a stream.
II
I carved a garden from dust and stone,
tilled the silence with patient hands.
Blossoms rose, though none had known
the blood that watered those quiet lands.
III
I sang to walls that would not reply,
a hymn too soft for ears to claim.
The echoes wilted, but still I tried,
a shadow singer without a name.
IV
Yet effort unseen does not decay,
it sleeps like seeds in a secret ground;
tomorrow's dawn may lift the clay,
and let the buried roots be found.