candies tumble from the tin
a few whole, most in fragments
the orange ones
bright as the fireflies
which light the meadows
I watch my sister –
more a child now
than she has been in months –
skip through the grass
catching the joy
of those dancing lights
in her spirit and her hands
for a brief moment
and, desperate to extend
her wonder just a little longer,
I tell her “Close your eyes,
say ‘ah’”, then watch her
respond to the sweetness
of the Sakuma Drops
all the while knowing
how few of them remain

Nicki Blake / @strawberrythief is an emerging poet and writer of short fiction from Perth, Western Australia. She is a Studio Ghibli fan who named her cat after the sootsprites in My Neighbour, Totoro and she is only brave enough to watch Grave of the Fireflies once every 5 years…