It gives a thrill to see a firefly in New York, and it seems like this this year there are more fireflies than usual. Siv Cedering has a wonderful poem on fireflies:

UKIYO-E

What explanation is given for the phosphorous light
That you, as boy, went out to catch
When summer dusk turned to night.
You caught the fire-flies, put them in a jar,
Careful to let in some air,
Then you fed them dandelions, unsure
Of what such small and fleeting things
Need, and when
Their light grew dim, you
   Let them go. 

--full poem from the Oregon Literary Review

--Siv Cedering, Letters From the Floating World, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1984.

photo credit: jamelah

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