I saw Scorpio in the southern sky
but below that stars were blinking
in ever-changing constellations:
fireflies speaking to each other
of friendship and romance
with their bioluminescent lanterns,
dancing over fallow fields
and giving depth to darkened woods,
while we with human time perspective
marveled at the beauty
of a courtship destined to be brief.
How would we live differently if we knew
we had but two months to love?

Karen Havholm was suddenly moved to write poetry after retiring from a career in geology and higher education. Her poems have appeared in Barstow and Grand, Moss Piglet, Volume One and Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets’ Calendar. She has also received honorable mention in the Wilda Morris poetry challenge.