A fantasy in the dark of night.
We found it returning from a farewell dinner
Parked the car, then heard our host:
Come with me up this path to see a luminous vision! We moved up the path along the Tuscan mountain side
Mere meters from the villa.
Dark night turned into darker night.
A few brave stars peeked through mist above
Twinkling wee rays arose from villages far below.
Suddenly –
Tiny flames flashing their brilliance came out from hiding!
Dozens first then scores then hundreds
Soon a multitude of agitated mini pyrotechnics
Flitting and flickering in random freedom below beyond us.
Willing even to blink resting on a human palm
Before rejoining their spontaneous holiday celebration.
Fireflies, of course!
Never in my many decades have I witnessed such a happening –
A phantasmagoric light show choreographed by nature.
Silence in that sparkling darkness provided its own music.
Shhh—we can hear wind sounds whistling quietly
Within a chorus of vocalizing insects
A distant barking canine continuo joins the sound track.
Nature often gives us more than we expect
In little joys, in memory holding visions.
When weary, cold, ill, worried, or forlorn,
We could call forward in our tired brain
Tonight’s vivid magic of life-lifting illumination
Infused now into us in the dark
On our mountainside in Tuscany.
Look! The fireflies seem deliriously happy!
Mating dance? Ballet?
