Originally published June 21, 2008, as the winning entry in a Worth1000 advanced text contest. The theme was “summer ballad.”
Refrain:
To dark of night the daylight yields,
And in the shadow slides.
All that remains in silent fields:
The lights of fireflies.
(I)
She’s walking home in bleak twilight,
A solitary girl.
She stands in woods and greets the eve;
Her heart’s laments unfurl.
(II)
She looks above through violet eyes
And ponders all she’s lost;
Her tears fall down; she stands alone
Her dreams so cruelly tossed.
To dark of night the daylight yields,
And in the shadow slides.
All that remains in silent fields:
The lights of fireflies.
(III)
Did friends desert? Did lovers fail?
Must summer fall away?
The questions ring as her hope fades
Glad moments cannot stay.
(IV)
Alone again, as oft she seems
A chill comes creeping in.
The warmth inside is drawn from her
As punishment for sin.
To dark of night the daylight yields,
And in the shadow slides.
All that remains in silent fields:
The lights of fireflies.
(V)
A light blinks faint along her path
A glow to guide the way.
Her tiny friend is resting here
Late on the August day.
(VI)
Her spirits lift with that one light
It seems her burdens dim.
Though dark times come, again she’s sure
That summer’s warmth will win.
To dark of night the daylight yields,
And in the shadow slides.
All that remains in silent fields:
The lights of fireflies.