Fireflies

by Emma Freeman

As I walked through the house that night

a flicker outside the dark window

pulled me instantly into the pulsing present moment

As I paused and looked more closely into the darkness

My eyes seemed to infuse with electric awe

and I saw them as if for the first time

These tiny enlightened beings

just floating there in the soft, open darkness

dancing slowly and silently together

writing a poem in the air 

as they lit their internal lanterns

turning them on

then off

then on

then off

communicating

expressing themselves in a secret language of light

I was completely captivated by their presence

their mesmerizing gentle rhythm 

In that expansively charged moment 

they invited me into their delicate glowing world

and shook some dust off of my being

reminding me to pay attention to what is right here

that I’ve seen a thousand times before

just waiting to be noticed with new eyes

before they turned their lights out again

and disappeared into the night