Burning Front Porch Appalachia

I saw a lightning bug flicker in a spider’s web
Twice it blinked, and twice again
The crickets kept selling their singing
They didn’t see
but I did

Cooling units beeped and hummed
Still you kept calling
Your blink shining brightly, then lulling
And even though I knew you were dying
I backed away slowly
Your light blinking “help me”

I had no power to rescue or help you
Do you even deserve dying?
Did you choose to land in that web?
Are you weak-minded?
Or were you caught in the wrong place
at a bad time?
And if I can’t free you, what then?

And while I was mulling, not thinking
You didn’t blink twice, or blink twice again
No glow to expect, or better yet, hope for
I can barely see you anymore

Kiley Lee first encountered poetry while wading through her mother's library as a child. This experience began in her a life-long love of language that has pushed her to quietly hone her craft. She recently relocated back to Almost Heaven, West Virginia. Her cat approves this poem. You can read more from Kiley on Instagram, @kileylee.writing, or in the December issue of Anti-Heroin Chic. Follow her on Twitter: @KBogart10.