June 30 fireworks
at the farm.
Spectacle without spectator.

The thrill of the spark
beckons and blackens fingers,
launch of flame
teases with danger of burn.

I am a lost witness of
verduous green blazing white
coral copper royal
against the fresh night,
pop and sulphur amid tree frogs
and the wind in my window.

Independence erupts
into cloud on homestead,
shroud of freedom
unshared.