TINY INFINITIES & a Firefly Poem

I've just finished TINY INFINITIES by J.H. Diehl. It's a middle grade novel about a friendship, and changes, and things out of our control. It has a glow to it, much like the fireflies on its cover (and in its pages)!
I'll start by sharing a few quotes, and then a poem inspired by the quotes:


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“We're going to call a firefly with your magic wand,” I went on. “You'll like fireflies, because they don't use sounds to find other fireflies. Only their lights. The way they flash on and off is code to talk to each other. So you don't have to talk, either. You can use light language.”

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“Here are my fireflies, “ I said. “Well, they're not mine. They belong to summertime, but I know you liked them before. Maybe they're your friends, Piper.”

And now the poem:

To a Child of Summertime

Show me your light language,

speak to me with glow and flash.

Run with me through a thicket

until we are both breathless,

our speech prickly with brambles

and sweat.

Swim with me in these gin-tinted waters,

our legs pulsing promises:

save me.

                  I'm yours.

Does the breeze still tease

your damp hair to whippoorwills?

I would catch you, hold you,

but not in a jar, no –

I carry you on my chest,

an ambush of freckles.

- Irene Latham