The Firefly Poem by Jason Doyle

Purring over the night grey grass,
The Firefly determines its time
And brilliance explodes from his body.

The limited luminescent yellow-green
From this fluttering Firefly
Is flung forth with what he

Would never see as unnatural
In this sunless scene over soggy soil.
Flare! once more and moving this time.

But the sign is missed by the encroaching crowd
As our dark eyes follow the first rocket into the summer’s sky
Its dusty tail is itself forgotten as the
Flash and Crash
Chase each other through the still night air.
The surrounding woods are woken and seen startled for a moment
Then dark returns and leaves are forgotten. Then
Flash and Crash
And colour sears through our sight and we smile
And we watch as the light and the sound
Flicker and crackles and rushes through our crowns.

The eccentric, delighted round-up; the same workings of fire
But
With less time between them!

The smoke, like our crowd, drifts and clings and then
Swirls away.

As we shuffle from the scene,
The show continues, but lacks our attention now.
A determined yellow and green
Flare over our heads, beside our moving feet, somewhere to our side;
Always gone before it is truly seen.

And the Firefly reminds us who the true
Master of night light is
But we mope on
Considering the Firefly’s display distracting and meagre at best.

After the final firework explodes,
Will we still disregard the metronomic Knight of night?

July 5th,2009