A poem by the Norwegian writer Rolf Jacobsen

THE FIREFLIES

It was that evening with the fireflies

when we stood waiting for the bus to Velletri

that we saw the old couple kissing each other

under the plane tree. It was then

you said, half into the air

half to me:

Whoever has loved long

has not lived in vain.

And it was then I caught sight of the first

fireflies in the dark, sparkling

with flashes of light around your head.

It was then.