On these hot summer nights
I wait out on the porch for you
For I know that you will come
Laden with nets and jars
Ready to drag me through the woods
To that secret meadow
That I can never find again in the day
And when I tell this to you
You respond, smirking
That it only exists at night
So of course I’ll never find it
I’m ready to protest
This obviously flawed logic
But you pull me into the clearing
And now, like every other time,
I lose my breath
Marveling at the beauty
I turn to find you handing me
A net and a jar, then
We sit down, back to back
In the middle of the meadow to wait
For those glowing lights to appear


We’ll stay out late
Waiting for every light to go out
Until it’s replaced by a sun-kissed sky
We’ll sneak back home
Bleary-eyed and tired, but happy
And collapse into our bed
Sleeping until noon,
Waking up in time for the next firefly night.