They Called It a Flame

They called it a flame.
I saw only darkness,
A cold, blackened void
No oxygen, tinder, or spark
Still, they told me to guard it,
To feed it. To nurture
That imagined thing in the dark.
That warm, fiery glow
In a night left unlit,
That flicker unseen
In a place without wind.
Heat unfelt, unobtainable
Insubstantial, unreal:
How can you protect
What you can’t even feel?