COKE BOTTLE LANTERN
They say if you travel fast enough, out
into space, through the Milky Way, beyond
the Black Holes, you'll find the past
fluttering about. Reflected images
against a cosmic screen,
like a bazillion-feature movie, starring
all your ancestors. You could grab
a mammoth buttered popcorn, flop back
on the North Star and discover
why you are the way you are.
When it's over, just before the velvet curtain
is drawn, you could leap about, pluck
bits of light rays from the blackness, clutch them
in your fist, save them in your Coke bottle.
And like the fireflies you've collected
on warm summer evenings--
place them on your dresser and watch
as they flicker in the night, beating
their head against the green glass,
anxious to fly back home.
by Caroline Reichard
Thanks for reading!