Once again, I want to watch her dance amongst the lilies

I want to see her smile, my darling little Achilles

As she fills the night chill with lights

Invites out the fireflies, the simple delights

*

She bathes in the dark and in bioluminescent glows

The tarsal claws of the insects gripping her clothes

And soon, I know, there will be a time she outgrows

Midnight lilies and fireflies, that’s the way life goes

*

So I sit in the dirt, pen in prose, posed and alert

Catching the smile of my sibling’s child and convert

The joy she instills in me into a silent concert

Trapping the moment, even if our time here was short