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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

DMC: "Red Keds and Fireflies" by Ellen Leventhal



RED KEDS AND FIREFLIES

First one to see the streetlights come on!
Knock on wood,
Our luck will be good!
I bounce about in my new red Keds,
the ones that make me strong.

The sun fades to darkness.
And then we see.
Flittering, glittering,
Twirling and flipping.

“I caught some!” he says.
“I put them in a jar.”

A knot in my gut,
and a tear stained face.
But, still
I find the words.
Loud, strong, formidable.
 “Let them go!”

And he does.
Up, up, up to the sky,
winking and blinking
and looping figure eights
all the way home.

“Goodbye fireflies,” I call.
Standing tall
in my new red Keds,
the ones that make me strong.

© 2015 Ellen Leventhal. All rights reserved.

Lee Bennett Hopkins has challenged us to write a "ME poem" this month, based on one simple moment in your childhood that changed you in some way. Click HERE for more details.

Send your poem to TodaysLittleDitty (at) gmail (dot) com, or use the contact form in the sidebar to the right. All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday, September 25th, and one lucky participant will win an autographed copy of Lee's gorgeous new anthology:




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6 comments:

  1. Linda BSeptember 16, 2015 at 9:06 AM

    There is that moment when catching in the jar means the fireflies lose their freedom, and you've shown it well. Love that you remember this memory of red keds and saving those fireflies.

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  2. Linda MitchellSeptember 16, 2015 at 5:13 PM

    lovely....strong means letting go sometimes....along with red keds! I remember those well.

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  3. Michelle Heidenrich BarnesSeptember 16, 2015 at 5:19 PM

    I'm "flittering, glittering, twirling and flipping" over your poem, Ellen. AND those awesome red Keds. :)

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  4. RosiSeptember 16, 2015 at 7:44 PM

    What a sweet memory this is. Thanks for posting it.

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  5. Teresa RobesonSeptember 16, 2015 at 9:17 PM

    Oh, how I adore you and this poem, Ellen!

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  6. Linda H.September 17, 2015 at 1:35 AM

    Oh, I love this, Ellen. The story, the bits of internal rhyme, the wording. I can picture the whole scene and I love the strength & character you showed. I hope you soon learned that it wasn't the new Keds but your inner Ellen that held all the power.

    :-)

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