Fireflies - animated poetry for summer

From the Wild: an original collection of poems (2016, page 35)

I’m hearing that people are starting to see fireflies already this summer so decided to publish this tonight so that you might be on the lookout for these shimmering flies and their enchanting dance of bioluminescence.

I wrote this poem a while ago¹, it reminds me of the childhood right of passage when you try to capture the beauty of fireflies on warm summer nights, only to realize their glory is in the wild.

Fireflies

There was a firefly
Or a hundred or so
In the clean night air
That I caught in a jar

Rescued from the wilderness
blinking syncopation
buzzing and flickering
until I bought it

Into the yellow kitchen
and saw the magic evaporate
the light and the wall became one
and they were tiny. Bugs

With drooping wings
looking at me
through the jar

Bewildered by the light
that drowned their
blazing dance
leaving only a charred ember

no smoke or flame
until they were released
back into the indigo air
to fire up the night again.

1. This poem was published in “From the Wild: a collection of original poems” (2016, page 35). Details about the book available here: https://www.maryann.ca/books/from-the-wild