Lisa Wiley Verse-Virtual 2017 August

August 2017

I studied with Billy Collins July 2013 in the Southampton Writers Conference on Long Island. I live with my husband, three children and two orange cats in Buffalo, NY where I teach creative writing and composition at Erie Community College. When I'm not running, I'm writing. My two chapbooks include My Daughter Wears Her Evil Eye to School (The Writer's Den, 2015) and Chamber Music (Finishing Line Press, 2013).

Collecting Fireflies with Alice
—Little Falls, NY

She pinches spark-like flickers
by blades of tall grass on the farm,
deposits them one at a time
into the plastic peanut butter jar
her grandmother saved for her.
Air holes too tiny for escape.

Don’t be scared. They won’t sting.
Alice counts an even number,
names them all for me--
after admiring the fruits of her hunt,
she unscrews the lid before bed.
Time for them to fly away home.

Airplane Mode

I’d like to live life in Airplane Mode
even when I’m not flying anywhere --

no more texts, no calls, emails pinging,
no tweets, no more Fakebook notifications

or Snapchat streaks. Like that day trip
to Crystal Beach, we crossed the Peace Bridge

up to Canada, set my favorite friendly
aircraft icon to avoid roaming fees.

Nothing to declare just my friend, our kids,
beach chairs, turquoise umbrella,

and enough chips to munch away the afternoons.
We solved most of the planet’s problems

between sand castles and inflated rafts,
gazed uninterrupted

into our children’s moon-like faces.

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