cubicle decor, part 4: a bit of art (plus a poem)

-A Glow-

This mixed-media piece, A Glow, was created by Melissa Crowe, whose wonderful embroidered felt portraits I've blogged about before. It's one of six works in her Little Folks series, which beautifully captures the whimsy and wonder of childhood.

I was terribly excited when she put the pieces up for sale in her shop and bought this one right away. I decided to hang it next to my desk, where it brings cheer to an otherwise blank white wall.

In one of those slightly spooky universe-aligning moments, this poem, part of the Poem-A-Day series, was delivered to my e-mail inbox less than a month after I became the proud owner of A Glow. Read it through all the way first, and then read just the italicized phrases.

Fireflies
Fred Chappell

The children race now here by the ivied fence, 

gather squealing now there by the lily border. 

The evening calms the quickened air, immense
and warm; its veil is pierced with fire. The order 

of space discloses as pair by pair porch lights 

carve shadows. Cool phosphors flare when dark 

permits yearning to signal where, with spark
and pause and spark, the fireflies are, the sites 

they spiral when they aspire, with carefree ardor
busy, to embrace a star that draws them thence. 



Like children we stand and stare, watching the field 

that twinkles where gold wisps fare to the end 

of dusk, as the sudden sphere, ivory shield 

aloft, of moon stands clear of the world's far bend.