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| Flickr Creative Commons Photo by davedehetre |
BY BRAD LEITHAUSER
Sky yet violet,
shadows collecting
under the trees
and first stars wan
as night birches, the fireflies
begin: from the first,
the night belongs
to them.
Darkness brightens
them: from our screened porch
we watch their blinkings
sharpen: three, four of them
lighten nightfall of all
solemnity; ten or twelve
and the eyes are led
endlessly astray;
and in deeper night
it’s twenty, fifty, more—a number
beyond simple reckoning—
and still they keep
coming.
shadows collecting
under the trees
and first stars wan
as night birches, the fireflies
begin: from the first,
the night belongs
to them.
Darkness brightens
them: from our screened porch
we watch their blinkings
sharpen: three, four of them
lighten nightfall of all
solemnity; ten or twelve
and the eyes are led
endlessly astray;
and in deeper night
it’s twenty, fifty, more—a number
beyond simple reckoning—
and still they keep
coming.
I didn't experience fireflies until I grew up and moved to Ohio. It's too dry for them back home. I would have loved to have met them as a child.
It's magical the way the light goes out of the summer sky and becomes condensed in those small green flashing lights that lift up out of the grass. They keep us grounded in the mystery that exists before our very eyes. Everyday magic. Everyday mystery. All we have to do is pay attention; it's there all the time.
Carol has the round up this week at Carol's Corner, and she's also got a poem about paying attention to the ordinary beauty of the world.
The Poetry Friday Roundup Schedule for July-December is complete! Kidlitosphere Yahoo group members, I added a file with the html code for the schedule so you can put it in your sidebar if you so choose. If you aren't a member and would like the code, email me through our blog email and I'll send it to you! Thanks, everyone!!
Thanks, Mary Lee. This is a beautiful excerpt. I confess I didn't click through because the poem feels long to me already. I love short, condensed poems. In fact, my favorite thing in your post was
ReplyDeleteIt's magical the way the light goes out of the summer sky and becomes condensed in those small green flashing lights that lift up out of the grass
What a fabulous idea, that those fireflies are the sky's light condensed into powerful little flashes! You should write a poem about that!
I never saw fireflies growing up in Fla., but that might be because I hated being outside in the summer heat. As an adult, I've seen them in Minnesota (but only when we go up north to camp) and in Georgia (in the mountains). So magical!
MaryLee,
ReplyDeleteI love this. Think someone in the universe is trying to tell me something.
Merely
to watch, and say nothing,
gratefully,
is what is best, is
what we needed.
I will put out the request for people to host again too!
Carol
I can't see fireflies today without being transported to childhood visits to Tennessee, in my grandparents' back yard with mason jars.... Thanks for sharing! The excerpt that Carol mentioned -
ReplyDeleteMerely
to watch, and say nothing,
gratefully,
is what is best, is
what we needed.
perfectly echoes the Mary Oliver poem she shared. A good theme today!
Mary Lee, thanks for reminding me how magical they are. I think I am guilty of taking them for granted. Even though we have them here in abundance, I don't even let my kids go out to play in the dark because I love bedtime so much! LOL
ReplyDeleteI would be happy to take Friday Poetry in July, any time open.
Love fireflies! I've never tried to catch them in jars, though -- probably because I'm usually busy warding off mosquitoes :).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the lovely poem and your poetic observations.