Sonnets for Ashley Faye: Sonnet 2

This sonnet has been published online by the Society of Classical Poets. I wrote it after one of our annual visits to her grandmother's farm in upstate NY.

Last year, we watched a million fireflies

at Grandma Bartlett’s farm, twinkling in the trees

as if reflecting all the billion stars

against the treetops rippling in the breeze.

My memory is dim, but in the dark

I think we reached to hold each other’s hand;

and in the moonlight, warmed each other’s heart;

and let out sighs across the glowing land.

That night, I saw my future in the swarms

of swirling lights: the dancing of those wraiths

revealed a thousand fears, a hundred harms,

and yet a hundred hopes, a thousand faiths;

and in the dance, I seemed to see your smile—
love of my life, and mother of my child.