I sit on my home’s dark,
humid front porch, warned,
severe thunderstorms approach.
Lightning is diffuse,
a strobe light on Xanax,
a heavenly preamble.
And fireflies,
so thick and close,
settle into their orchestra pit,
to commence the medley.
James “Jim” Washington, Jr. is recently retired and grateful to have more writing headspace. His poetry has appeared in Obsidian, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, Rattle, The Book of Jobs: Poems About Work, Main Street Rag, and more. In 2024, Jim received Dartmouth’s thesis excellence award for his poetry collection, Riding Shotgun.
