There were fireflies in the garden last night
and I thought of sitting with you
holding hands as we watched
that glittering code of flashing light
starry sky and stars on the lawn
stars in my eyes with your presence
I imagined your smile and your delighted
voice; soft and gentle in darkened night
and later the drift to sleep and dream
held tight together in comfort and joy
I understood again that there is only you
inhabiting my world in forlorn fantasy
you and those torch bugs in my head
and in my heart
without this barren bed and broken soul
where none shall ever reside
and that in lacking your love
the beauty of the evening is fallow
wasted on me in dismal melancholy
I weep into ebony dusk