my favorite pet

i was raised and lived

in the midwest

as a child

the nights were hot and sticky

my little sisters and i

stayed out late

past the mosquitos

when the cool came into

the backyard

and the lightning bugs would lift

from their underground dens

magically throbbing

yellow glows of love

all through the night air.

with a peanut butter jar we'd run

and jump and catch them

in our pudgy bare feet

we pulled fragrant grass with our little fists

for our new found pets

to make them feel at home

in their  glass houses.

when we caught 4 or 5 or 6 of them

we would sit

on  warm concrete steps

of the stoop

and watch

as they filled the jar with light

and crawled desperately

over the grass

and each other

their wee red heads and

gray striped wings whirring

their little legs trying

to climb the slippery glass

our cold sweaty hands

held over the top

feeling the tickle of their

great attempts to escape

with a piece of granite and a nail

holes would be punched into

the jar's lid

and screwed on tight

for the night

time for bed

in the morning

they were dead

the first time

i cried

but then

 i got used to it.