{"id":3257,"date":"2022-04-22T00:01:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T04:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/?p=3257"},"modified":"2022-04-22T08:23:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T12:23:55","slug":"lagasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/spire\/2022\/04\/22\/lagasse\/","title":{"rendered":"A Collection of Poems: Fireflies, Arrival of Spring, End of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Lagasse<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fireflies<\/h3>\n

Mid-summer, mid-evening the blue-<\/span><\/p>\n

black night shrouds the self to become<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A hidden witness, like the backyard maple<\/span><\/p>\n

and the forsythia bush, to the nocturnal\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life emerging from its slumber.\u00a0 Again,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wait expectantly for the fireflies to return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Once constant stars on a cloudless\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

night, they danced to an unheard music<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Their incandescence blinked their own\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

luminous light show. How I long to be\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Part of the glow and again walk<\/span><\/p>\n

through their fluid constellations<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of delight as though I am touring<\/span><\/p>\n

a microcosm of the mystery.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excessive night light has blinded\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the fireflies to see through darkness\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And humans\u2019 ceaseless appetite for\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

manicured lawns has poisoned their homes\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To near extinction.\u00a0 Now, all I can do is wait<\/span><\/p>\n

for us to become wild again, to again desire<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The flickering field and connection over<\/span><\/p>\n

the ubiquitous ones pulsing inside our homes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tonight, I will search for a single glowing pulse,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

a beacon, to help find our way back to the stars. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Arrival of Spring<\/h3>\n

Spring will soon arrive yet<\/span><\/p>\n

will offer stark consolation<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a country whose people reside<\/span><\/p>\n

with ice in their hearts and dare not<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remove their dark tinted sunglasses\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

and be blinded by icy whiteness.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fires rage in every direction<\/span><\/p>\n

and no warmth can be found<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The planet heats by degrees,<\/span><\/p>\n

and we apply more sunscreen.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Soon all that will remain from\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the snow melt are puddles\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

and memory, but tell that to\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the broken birch and maple limbs.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tell that to those who mourn\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the dead – who respond and point<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

to their hearts.\u00a0 Not all wounds\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

will heal.\u00a0 The scars etched into<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The body, into the land cannot\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

be hidden by bunting or flags.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

End of the World<\/h3>\n

Surviving heatstroke, he transforms\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Into a god of his own making.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blinded, he believes he is Tireseus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Burning he believes he is Prometheus.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his Copernican world he yearns to be\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Sun and Oracle.\u00a0 Curious acquaintances,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

like planets, orbit with the hope of love,<\/span><\/p>\n

friendship, or insight but receive only fire.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The climate heats.\u00a0 Fertile ground becomes fallow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parched land cannot feed insatiable hunger.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tom Lagasse   Fireflies Mid-summer, mid-evening the blue- black night shrouds the self to become   A hidden witness, like the backyard maple and the forsythia bush, to the nocturnal\u00a0   Life emerging from its slumber.\u00a0 Again,\u00a0 I wait expectantly for the fireflies to return.\u00a0\u00a0   Once constant stars on a cloudless\u00a0 night, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spire-2022-issue"],"yoast_head":"\nA Collection of Poems: Fireflies, Arrival of Spring, End of the World - 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