The Blue Ghost Fireflies of Western North Carolina

The Blue Ghost Fireflies of Western North Carolina

By Mary Ardery

The blue flickers
in the mountain meadow
caught us by surprise.

Their dance held majesty
as much as play, like fairies:
intentional with their mischief.

Oh tactile pulse!
                        (theirs)

Oh thrum of light!
                        (ours)

Growing up
we called them
lightning bugs.

Their glow was slow
and yellow and easily
trapped. In Indiana,

there were things
I didn’t even know
to desire: the way

a man’s stubble
burns lips differently
at sea level than 5,000 feet up;

the way some light,
when captured,
lasts only the night

—but other light
burns brighter.
Other light will haunt.

Mary Ardery holds a BA in English Writing from DePauw University. After living and working in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina for two years, she has returned home to the Midwest to pursue her MFA at Southern Illinois University. Visit maryardery.com to see more of her work.

Featured image by Uqbar / CC BY

Zebra Mussels at Lake Charlevoix

Zebra Mussels at Lake Charlevoix

By Mary Ardery

I turned inward as Indiana hills and cornfields transformed
into a blur of Michigan cherry orchards and skinny pines.
Nine hours with Mom, Dad, and two older sisters who preferred
 
music to talking. At the cabin, Cousin Sarah was eager to play.
All day we hauled treasures from the fresh water: bucket
after colorful bucket of zebra mussels. We pried them open
 
with our small fingers to collect the oozing reward—
the invasive species’ inedible meat. Such viscosity was kept
like a secret inside those striped shells known to slice soles
 
if one day you forgot your water shoes. It was an early study
of exterior vs. interior: a casing that draws blood
but when cracked the right way, yields to something delicate.

Mary Ardery holds a BA in English Writing from DePauw University. After living and working in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Asheville, North Carolina for two years, she has returned home to the Midwest to pursue her MFA at Southern Illinois University. Visit maryardery.com to see more of her work.

Featured image courtesy, Mary Ardery.