Sunday, July 11, 2010

Fireflies, Lightning, and Water Towers




Dancing with Fire Flys

went walking nude tonight
an inadequacy of enough drink
watching fire flys in the night
this provocation to reflect and think
life is complex and confused
it’s good i got a clear head.
you know, i sure wish my ass glowed





I have a group of poems that I call 7 Lines of Foolishness, maybe that's what I should call my blog sometimes. Anyway, guess what, this is one of those poems. I have thought of the poem several times over past month as summer and fireflies have returned. I say the last line to Alison periodically and to myself or God often. Depending on your perspective, it's either a good thing or bad thing that God does not answer this prayer. Some of you must admit it would be pretty cool though. I would be the King of mooning. One other firefly story from a couple of years ago. I was on a night run up and back on Twin Oaks road, when I pass through a drove of fireflies. I had never seen that many fireflies at one time in one place before, nor have I since. There literally had to be tens of thousands fireflies. It was a truly remarkable sight. Just another reason to do things differently from most people, such as running at night.

Which speaking of doing different things. I climbed a water tower again this week. Someone asked if I wanted to join them and I couldn't resist. I had been thinking of climbing one somewhere again as it had been quite a few years since I had done that. The conditions might not have been best, or could have been considered perfect, as there were thunderstorms in the area. As we met for our middle of the night excursion, we quickly decided lightning was a minor and worthwhile risk. We got some popsicles and headed for the tower. No better place to eat popsicles. This was first time I had ever climbed with someone. As he said, you need to choose the right person for such an activity or you're better off alone. Viewing the distant lightning from the high vantage point was quite a show. I plan to still sneak skyward periodically when I'm 80 or 90. There is just something exciting about being so high above everything around and being unrestrained. I don't think it is for everyone. But as my friend and I discussed, we enjoy the sensation of our hearts pounding and gripping things more tightly than normal. Furthermore, maybe I get a different view of my world from this rarely seen viewpoint, literally and metaphorically. It's good to survey our surroundings from an unique perspective sometimes.

Maybe someday my ass will begin to flicker in the night. I'll keep asking.

No comments:

Post a Comment