Mid-Summer Nights
The day’s
hot breath lingered
forcing fireflies out of the grass.
Soundlessly
they rose –
rising
blink-ing
rising – pausing
in the trees, slowly charting their way ever upward.
Occasionally
we’d catch
one
in an old jar, while
grownups sat in lawn chairs and chatted.
Mostly
we just ran around
small, thin arms
o u t s t r e t c h e d
against the night and
little voices
punctuating the darkness with laughter.
For a moment, all
the stars had tumbled to earth and lay at our feet.
