so say the fireflies

Listening to rain fall
upon the fiberglass roof
seems so much harder than it is
for the lighted dots glow in the night
and flirt under street lamp shines
in this hurried race of summer
the rain does not matter--
so say the fireflies.

I must pause and wonder,
where did it go?
when did i lose the slow sweat of July?

I know it is Canis Major above me
because my phone is Smart
And I know
the loving face of the moon hides
behind the night's showers and tomorrow's storms.

I know I am connected by an unseen web
that unites a disjointed world
but it is a summer night
that races when it should drip like honey

I sat and watched the news
[did God loose a plague?]
[are the brown babies still in the cage?]
and hear an unsettling roar
outside my front door painted bright
in flashing red lights
someone needs help...

[and time provides a great reveal
it slowly soundlessly peels the crusted covers
of our eyes. Like a bolt that breaks the night,
we are suddenly blinded by the sight of truth]


my skin knows
the weight of air, filled with
lotus and lilac, the fire flies know
the thickly night as summer races on

and i know the air is heavy
because here and everywhere it seems
so many say...
I cannot breathe

Dear George

You came to be
as someone's wish
By a mind set in a time of chains
and impossibility; held in a place
that was not home, and when home no longer was.
you were a wish for freedom and the possibilities of life

Now, you have folded your life
in a circle unbroken from then to now
the struggles of today and dreams of better tomorrows

Again, it is time for life to end while dreams extend
a reach of love for those still here and so many more yet to come

we -the remainder of the world you knew-
will carry on, speak your name, and witness the birth
of new purpose; exalting a guiding star-

It is a time that sheds tears of loss
from eyes that hold visions of victory