Windward Review

Joseph Wilson
Sophocles and Fireflies
after lightning storms
and May rain
I see fireflies
in the pasture
for the first time
this spring
one
then another
then many
more
reminder
of my youth in Indiana
humid summer evenings
in grandma’s back yard
joy
of capturing
in a coffee can
of swatting
with a wiffle bat
I was young
Sophocles writes
about light and darkness
clarity be the end-all
I see her fill
the vivid red dress
I hear her tentative soft voice laugh
like a windchime in a slight breeze
I feel the brush of her ring finger
like silk tracing my cheek
I think about fireflies
reminder
of my sweetheart
long married
happily to
another man
I sense her in my darkness
then I crash into her
at Central Market
carefully chosen word in passing
conflicted smile
slow parting
Civility + You
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