Purple Yawn

Once Upon a time prison bars Went clank! Together—a hundred stars Alarmed, lifted to sail in flight Tilting toward more distant coils of night To regroup noiselessly in braids of light. Well, all the rest were gone, but I With perseverance And uncommon skill in one so young Held in my hand A phosphorescent firefly.

The evening was growing in a purple yawn. The bats had other business So the lawn Had darkened faster than I thought The time allowed—Perhaps I ought To be inside away from all this strangeness When lo! The indignant glow Wrestling in earnest enmity against its jailer Reminded me of what I had brought plummeting Down from where the winds are delicate scarves That are half jewel and song half And that didn’t want to come Getting along nicely just a flicker above the grass tops.

How does one dare To pinion the wings of thought? So I was confronted With my hand again The sharp points of the star scalding my hand And sticking out through my fingers Disturbed me. There were no more constellations Diving between the knees of the apple tree. I let the firefly go and went inside And I think the stars returned.