photograph

A timeless beckoning to
abandon all this for a while.
Follow its faint glow and come -
live inside, here, with our eyelashes
stopped.

The matter of before and after
press no hard weight on this
a delicate specimen
its breath spliced from air and a moment.

Yes, come to this discrete in-between
pausing what is before it nearly never happened.
Gold fleck of wing turned inside out.
A firefly struck fleeing, flashing its small life inside the dark.
There - and there - and there.

Intricacy distilled from gravel night
by itself in a dusty container punctured, pixelated
just in case. Just in case.

Maybe it will under this curious lamp, here.
Our two eyes twist open, cup remnants of life, gently.
We press our funny hope inside to feel
fire come alive.
Fluttering shadows bring: joy, tears, love, forgiveness.

And we discover after all this still time
its original wonder yearning
through holes and years
to be kept again. And again, and again.
Even, there. Whoever that may be.

Tiny flicker of fortune.
A firefly never flees from what it knows:
to be held it must be captured.