Oh, sad species, we are about to push out the firefly—
lost to perfect lawns, shifting climate and 24-hour convenience stores.
I want to shout, Not the fireflies! Not the little illuminators!
and This is the line in the sand!
Because I sprinted across the yard in the early evening,
and thirty years later my daughters, joy on their faces, squealed Look!
And though we may ruin much else in this fragile world,
I want my grandchildren and great grandchildren, and great, great grandchildren
to chase those magical lights through grass and early evening air,
dusk not yet settled, disaster a distant dream.
—
Cathy Barber’s poetry has been published across four continents, including in Slant, SLAB, Kestrel, The Hopper, and has been anthologized many times. She is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program and makes her home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where she serves on the board of Literary Cleveland and Heights Arts’ Heights Writes Community Team. Chapbook: Aardvarks, Bloodhounds, Catfish, Dingoes (Dancing Girl Press, 2018); full length book: Once: A Golden Shovel Collection (Kelsay Books, 2023).
