Fireworks (A Poem)

By Joyce Jacobo

[Author’s Note: It’s getting to be that time of year again when fireworks will soar high up into the skies. I hope to see them in person this year.]

A distant whistle in the darkness

  followed by a slim groove of light

          that sails higher

             and higher

             and higher—

Until with a crackly burst

  new stars scatter

                   through the night air

like fireflies set free

            to roam the heavens

   or a fiery flower

            that spreads its petals

                        in an elaborate bloom

Each one fades

     followed by another rush

          of released artwork

Reflected in the eyes

   wide to experience them

Inscribed in the mind

     to remember

        throughout the year