We cannot see the stars tonight; the sky
Is black, and from the marsh across the way
The salt wind sweeps toward the sea a spray
Of summer rain. We watch it, you and I,
inside the old verandah, warm and dry,
In chairs relaxed, completely at ease,
And warm with blankets wrapped around our knees
Cocooned in silence till the storm blows by.
Then all at once the night grows luminous
As a host of fire-flies in nuptial swarm
Flash intermittent point of cold gold fire;
And we draw closer, sensing how in us
The same lights burn, lit by the same desire,
Although ours are invisible and warm.