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Read more poems by Conrad Aiken: Conrad Aiken Poems at Poetry X.

Behold me, in my chiffon, gauze, and tinsel, 
Flitting out of the shadow into the spotlight, 
And into the shadow again, without a whisper!— 
Firefly's my name, I am evanescent.

Firefly's your name. You are evanescent. 
But I follow you as remorselessly as darkness, 
And shut you in and enclose you, at last, and always, 
Till you are lost,—as a voice is lost in silence.

Till I am lost, as a voice is lost in silence. . . 
Are you the one who would close so cool about me? 
My fire sheds into and through you and beyond you: 
How can your fingers hold me? I am elusive.

How can my fingers hold you? You are elusive? 
Yes, you are flame, but I surround and love you, 
Always extend beyond you, cool, eternal, 
To take you into my heart's great void of silence.

You shut me into your heart's great void of silence. . . 
O sweet and soothing end for a life of whirling! 
Now I am still, whose life was mazed with motion. 
Now I sink into you, for love of sleep.

Added: 12 Aug 2002 | Last Read: 7 Jun 2025 7:25 PM | Viewed: 4065 times

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