The word speckle makes me excited, like getting ready to go out on a Saturday night and not being able to say why but knowing-something-mysterious-and-magnificent-would-happen excited.
I couldn’t figure out why the word speckle would make me feel this way, so figuring I had the definition wrong, I looked it up in the dictionary: “a small patch of color.”
Reading this, I thought of fireflies. Do fireflies bring out the mystery and magnificence of a July Saturday night? I chuckled at my question, but then thought, Yes, yes, they do. I think they suggest — brightly — that there is more to the night than meets the eye.
As a kid, the minute it was warm enough to wear flip-flops, I started looking for fireflies. After my dad’s charcoal grill had cooled from dinner, after I’d crossed the Eisenhower overpass and waved g’night to the Sears Tower on my way home from the pool, after eating the ice-cream drumsticks my mom always stocked in the freezer, the fireflies came out.
As a teenager, I remember their flicker of light while I talked to a boy I probably wasn’t supposed to be talking to. The Chicago skyline, the light houses glittering over Lake Michigan, even fireworks were no match for these creatures’ sporadic dappling of the night sky.
At twilight, after the neighborhood pool that we can see from our backyard closes, I’ll stand on my deck and see that the water has settled. I’ll see that the golfers on the course have finished their round and are huddled together, having a drink and sharing stories. I’ll see that the trees are swaying overhead, their hush bringing in the night. I’ll see the fireflies’ lighted dance, and I’ll understand why speckle makes me excited.
Try It
What speckles in July? What patches of color or hints of light do you see? What glistens in the night? Write a scene that speckles. It could be about something specific (the firefly), or maybe you want to try your hand at writing so that the tone or mood is like a small patch of color. If you go this route, try not to use the word speckle at all.
As always, you can write a poem, but here’s a chance to write a paragraph, or a short scene — creative nonfiction or fiction — if you wish. You can drop your piece in the comments or leave a link to your own website.
Featured Poem
Thanks to everyone who participated in our recent poetry prompt. Here’s a poem from Katie that we enjoyed:
Shiny
sizzle shimmer
mini handheld fireworks
twirl in circles, swirl figure eights
fire fun.
—Katie
Photo by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Callie Feyen, author of The Teacher Diaries: Romeo & Juliet.
__________
“Callie is brave and honest and humble and hilarious. If you’re a teacher, she will rekindle your joy of the classroom and renew your belief in the power of story. If you’re just a reader looking for wisdom in the pages of a book, Callie will help you to trust yourself, so you can get at your own story.”
—Lisa McGovern, Amazon Reviewer
- Poetry Prompt: Courage to Follow - July 24, 2023
- Poetry Prompt: Being a Pilgrim and a Martha Stewart Homemaker - July 10, 2023
- Poetry Prompt: Monarch Butterfly’s Wildflower - June 19, 2023
Katie says
Callie,
What a happy thing to see my cinquain featured:)
Thank you!
Katie
Sandra Heska king says
Nice one, Katie. Sizzle shimmer… fire fun. 🙂
Katie says
Thank you, Sandy:)
Callie Feyen says
A happy thing, indeed! It was a pleasure to read, Katie!
Rick Maxson says
some night
in the deep country
where fireflies dance
with the stars
over black water
let them open the book
of silence for you
Bethany R. says
Love this, Richard.
Richard Maxson says
Thanks, Bethany.
Callie Feyen says
“Open the book/of silence” – what a wonderful activity for a summer’s eve.
Richard Maxson says
Thanks, Callie.
Rick Maxson says
July moved on,
and its baskets of sighs
spilled like crayon paper,
gold and amber
on the water—
a pied farewell
among the clouds.
Sandra Heska king says
Oooh… baskets of sighs. I like.
Katie says
Yesterday I played around with fireflies some more and came up with this cinquain, tanka, and a few haiku:
fire fly
we don’t know why
your light blinks on and off
is it your benediction for
the night?
*****
launching silently
you reconnoiter the lawn
airborne hide and seek
you blink on, then off, here, there
all watch with exultation
we think you’re saying “goodnight”
*****
yellow-green you glow
hide and seek above the yard
I see fire flying
*****
we see you rise up
intermittent lanterns blink-
ing above the grass
*****
I watch you rise up
from the ground, then levitate
mobile, flying lights
Callie Feyen says
What fun! I love, “benediction for the night.” That will stay with me for a long time (especially since our power has been out for almost two days, and I’m noticing the outside world a lot more. I like the idea of a benediction from fireflies at night.
Thank you, Katie!
Shannon Mayhew says
Oh, Callie! How could I resist such a tempting prompt– speckles! The Hopkins fan in me is ready to join in the fun. Your prompt’s invitation to consider July and the speckles it offers brought me to the “gash gold-vermillion” embers from “The Windhover.” And all the speckles in “Pied Beauty.”
I am working on a piece with July’s firefly speckles, which I will post in a separate comment, but I would also love to share a blog post I wrote last fall about “Dappled Things” — the contrast of the seen and unseen dappling of speckles that make up our experience:
http://presenceandprose.com/dappled-things/
Callie Feyen says
“Seeing her in her spotted glory against the blanket of peach and yellow leaves reminds me of this poem.” I love your description of the photo, Shannon. Your words illuminate the photo you took.
Shannon Mayhew says
Thank you, Callie!
Shannon Mayhew says
This prompt gave me the perfect opportunity to revisit a poem for a picture book about summer that I’d started a while back but hadn’t finished. Thanks for the inspiration!
GLOW!
Snoozing in my cozy bed,
I wake up and I hear
Tiny birds, cheeping chirps,
“Summertime is here!”
I eat my toast and rest my feet
in a splotch of sun on the floor.
Now it’s time to go outside
to play, to search, and explore.
We’re on a quest to find the stones
that sparkle in the sun.
I place them in a shoebox lid.
We sort and study each one.
It’s getting hot sifting through the rocks,
so Mom turns on the hose.
We splash and play and jump and spray!
We make misty rainbows.
Cool fresh wet skin
dries fast in the heat.
I skip across the shiny grass;
my flip-flops flap my feet.
Finding sticks and fancy plants
and green moss by the pond,
we craft a fairy cottage
and a milkweed magic wand.
Skipping stones
Hop, splish-and-plunk!
We startle a turtle
who goes for a dunk.
An inchworm hangs
from an invisible thread.
I walk under branches
and cover my head!
Now the toads and the crickets are making a racket!
The heat of the day starts to fade.
The sky is painted with orange-purple-peach,
and the trees make long streaks of shade.
In the bushes, a sprinkling
of fireflies,
twinkling
hint, “the night soon will start.”
As I watch them, I know
that they blink
and they
glow
like a warm shining sun in my heart.
Katie says
Oh Shannon!
I love everything about this poem:
the onomatopoeia, the rhyming, the rhythm:)
Favorite lines:
“The sky is painted with orange-purple-peach, and the trees make long streaks of shade.”
Favorite phrase: “sprinkling of fireflies”
Thank you for sharing!
Shannon Mayhew says
Thank you, Katie!! Those are some of my favorite lines too. 🙂 I wanted the sounds in the internal rhymes to sound like those long, stretched out streaky shadows. I’m so happy you enjoyed it.
Callie Feyen says
This one is such fun, Shannon! I love the rhyming, but also how vivid the scenes are in each stanza. Great work!
Shannon Mayhew says
Thanks Callie! Although it’s been years since I’ve taught, the preschool teacher in me can’t resist playing with rhyme. 🙂