Hope is a thing with Luciferin.

Hope is a thing with Luciferin. (1) Something about Dartmoor

A short poem for a Glow-Worm – spotted on Dartmoor – on the 11th. July 2018 – at around 11 o’clock on Wednesday night; she lit up the Moor for me at least…

Waiting. Hoping——Glowing.

Not knowing…

Or maybe I should crawl back under a stone and die?

Not I. 


I’d almost given up hope of seeing ‘Lampyris noctiluca’ this year because I thought I’d left it too late in the season – and the Moor being so dry…

I’d almost arrived back at my car when I suddenly spotted a single dot-like lamp glowing amidst the dense ferns – amidst the Hawthorns. Its intensity belied the fact that its host wouldn’t have eaten for days – and won’t…

Female glow-worms emit Luciferin to attract a ‘fly-by-night’ mate, the female is earthbound; a wingless beetle of a sort, while the winged male is lampless. If he finds her, she lays her eggs somewhere dark and safe – then fades——dies; she dies either way…

I hope that somewhere on Dartmoor – beneath a stone or in a crevice – there’s a clutch of tiny, new-laid eggs…Hope is a thing with Luciferin. (1) Something about Dartmoor

3 thoughts on “Hope is a thing with Luciferin.

  1. fine! Bravo dear Melanie. Yes, these insects are mini-allegories of all lives, our own included….go for it…cheers, Christopher

  2. Lovely Melanie, a beautiful and fascinating post. It is such a pleasure to see you in my in box. (please excuse me if I don’t always comment but I always do pop over to read and learn.)

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