Bioluminescence is a Big Word
Stephen Cushman
for tiny cells and tissues
fermenting with an enzyme
inside the abdomen of the very first firefly
this spring, the only one floating
above the dark acres of a derelict farm
on a muggy May evening. Could be a scout
charged by the others with patrolling the fields,
in bad need of mowing, for non-flying females
on the ground or in bushes, who seeing him beam
the correct species signal, answer right back
in codes of their own. Or maybe he’s eager,
this soft-bodied beetle, and impressively potent.
Whatever the case, how can they call
a device for mating heatless light?
And why dub him lightning bug
when his guttering glow has less in common
with blinding bolts than blinking yellow
at midnight intersections, caution, caution
flashed out here against the black
to steady the pulse in spite of all risk
inherent in chemistry, no matter how small.
