in childhood’s endless summer
beneath a sunset sky
we catch the lightning bugs
as they switch their lamps to glow

toes scented all with green
we race to see them rise
lifting in the dusk
like we have made the stars

there’s a storm on the horizon
but we do not know it yet
young gods
unafraid
at play in the sea of grain

Erin Wescott is the author of the 2023 chapbook b sides. Her poem “hay day” was chosen for the Landward Poetry Project. She is also a winner of the 2024 Writing by Writers short-short contest. An avid gardener and research librarian, she currently lives in southeastern Wisconsin.