Light-emitting diode,
baleful regardless of color,
our passport to a firefly future
of light without heat:
how it glows in the darkness,
like the wood-rot fungus known as foxfire.
I reach for it & startle
at the apparition of my finger—
clearly the finger of an alien
from some planet with a distant sun
& too many moons.
OTHER POSTS IN THE SERIES
- Ab Ovo
- The Origin of the Exclamation Mark
- Screw
- Cursor
- Shark’s Tooth
- Acorns
- Book Match
- Toenail Paring
- That Button
- Stone
- Thorn
- Knots
- Knob
- Fulgurite
- Coin
- Sugar Pill
- Peach Pit
- Eyecup
- Asterisk
- Bullet Casing
- Nipple
- Indicator Light
- Salt Crystals
- Asterisk (videopoem)
- Fish Hook
- Oak Apple Gall
- Pearl
- A Thumbnail Taxonomy of Rivets
- Wingnut
- Baby Carrots
- Computer Chip
- Thimble
- Lentil
- Blastocyst
Clearly ET has come home to us. (grin) Love this! I no longer need a night light with all the colorful blinking diodes of puter, printer, tube, VCR, and monitor. It’s like a circus in here.
I had to put tape over the indicator light on my USB microphone—that’s how distracting it was. It doesn’t come with an off button.
I’m gathering some Small World selections, for reading room recitations today. One of my kids waived the h.s. speech team try-out, based upon his public (BREAD-sponsored) poetry performances. Can’t wait to hear the mournful trailing of “too many moooooooooooons”.
Oh, awesome. Thanks, Julia. Let me know how it goes.