Fireflies: Cape Traverse

We cannot see the stars tonight; the skyIs black, and from the marsh across the wayThe salt wind sweeps toward the sea a sprayOf 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 kneesCocooned in silence till the storm blows by.

Then all at once the night grows luminousAs a host of fire-flies in nuptial swarmFlash intermittent point of cold gold fire;And we draw closer, sensing how in usThe same lights burn, lit by the same desire,Although ours are invisible and warm.