(photo credit: dianegottsman.com)

promise of firework celebration
draws crowd hours in advance
like iron shavings to a magnet
seduction of even most staunch
early bedtime proponent

champagne cork “pop” and glint of color
turn all eyes to east
an organism unified by quest for entertainment

Snap Flash
Bang Fizzle

myriad colors light the sky
Bursts of Sparkle cascade outward
from cores of intensely concentrated energy
Rainbow sparks spray upward
gushing geysers
arcing ever higher
still glass skyscrapers
offer moments of gauzy reflection
Kaleidoscope colors
weave and wend across the night sky
starry paint by number
to satiate throng’s appetite
for glowing color spectacle

Applause, cheers echo
along hillside, rooftops, riverbanks
broad smiles of delight
fading into the night
like spent explosives