Fireflies

In the muggy air

Fireflies

Wander the lawn

As darkness creeps across the grass

Steals through the trees

Envelopes the house

Lightning silently illuminates a distant cloud

Heat lightning

We used to say

Those childhood evenings

When we meandered

With the fireflies

Waiting for their lambent calls

One to another

And with a jar

One by one we caught them

Then wandered silently

Back across the grass

To the house

Carrying our luminaries

As if they could light our way home