Lightning Bugs
by Luke Schamer
The emerald green lit up the tall grass and beckoned me farther. A glass jar, still cold from a quick sink cleaning, swooped through the air. They had wings and I didn’t; that was unfair. If stars were closer, they’d be easier to catch. Stars didn’t move. But I needed to bring something back alive.
Author's Note
Lightning Bugs was one of six extremely short “snapshot” pieces I wrote that pinpointed strong youthful memories, which were fused with a more matured understanding of the situation (I had just read William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, and this was surely influential). To date, I have only used this process once, and it has produced some of my most favorite writing.
Luke Schamer is a writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. He works as a university writing consultant, is an editor of Line by Line academic journal, and owns and operates a music studio. Luke’s writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Phoenix Soul, Eunoia Review, The Writer’s Quibble, and Youth Imagination Magazine, among others. Find out more at www.LukeSchamer.com.