Read “Firefly Ars Poetica,” a Poem by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
From Her New Collection, Night Owl
“Firefly Ars Poetica”
It’s no secret I’m a summer gal. I adore the bevy & bounty of stone
fruit & sun-drenched gardens, pool-plashes from my teen sons, &
so much green & bloom & chirp in the thick canopy of trees arched
above me. When we enter a season of shorter days & winter, I too
want to overwinter like bumble bees, brown bears, & wood frogs.
I look to my favorite summer creature-the firefly—to help guide
the way. I prefer small lamps. I prefer no music, save the times I
can hear my own heart slam underneath my blouse. I prefer writing
everything by pencil: the shhh-shhh-shhh of the lead on the page &
the satisfying scritch of crossing out feels like I’m making
something. Clicks of the keyboard sound like high heels walking
nowhere in particular. Sometimes I revise. Sometimes I stıck
on a word & cannot move on—like my shield or scutellum
(the hard, triangle-shaped covering on a firefly’s body where
the wings begin) makes me feel shy, protective. Sometimes I dial up
the music & sound play. I revise. When the music of a sentence seems
to be nonexistent, I worry. I revise again. One thing to remember:
sometimes you are in a quiet season. Sometimes you can hear
the patter of a leaf (or three) muttering at your feet. Maybe you read
or scoop & sieve books for later. Fireflies spend most of their brief life
as larvae after all, covered under leaf litter, gathering up food during
the winter to gain strength. Do not worry if this is not your season.
It will come. I am certain of it. It will come. In the world of fireflies,
that quiet is called the larval stage. And one of the gabillion kajilion
magical things about fireflies? Don’t forget—even their larvae glow.
_______________________________________
From Night Owl, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Courtesy Ecco.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the New York Times bestselling author of two illustrated collections of essays: Bite by Bite and World of Wonders, chosen as Barnes & Noble’s Book of the Year and as a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She has published four award-winning poetry collections and spent a decade serving as the poetry editor for environmental magazines, first for Orion and then Sierra. A professor of English and creative writing for more than twenty-five years, she gives firefly tours for Mississippi State Parks and lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with her family.
