Stars were scattered like freckles on a face 

The fire coughed a cloud of colorless mist

Small lights sparkled through trees like a galaxy in space

The ‘Happy Birthday’ sign swayed with a turn and a twist

Explosive laughter filled the air as I read the text on the small black card

Terrible jokes scattered on the edge of the firepit

Soda cans noisily stumbled across the yard

The party reduced, me and my three most favorite people

Us four, crumpled over, laughing like hyenas

Playing Cards Against Humanity far after the sun fell 

Chatting over a fire that danced like a group of ballerinas 

Shoveling cake into our mouths so quickly we began to feel unwell

Looking up from my deck

I admired the three people in front of me

I hadn’t seen them in months, I felt like a wreck

But here they are, filling my heart with joy and making me feel free

The year had beat all of us down 

Lethargic and lonely

After months of quarantine consuming our town 

Time crept by so slowly

But these three buffoons had made me elated

The heroes that I hold dear

An amazing and memorable day they created

Almost made up for this entire hellish year

The fire cast our shadows on the fence like a projector

Night crept up on us like a specter 

Reciting stories and laughing so hard we had to gasp for air

Embers erupting from the fire made us squirm in our chair

I stared into the night

Sounds of laughter blurred

Everything felt right

As the fire died, a thought occurred

“Will I remember this night clearly,

When I am eighty years old, in my rocking chair

Will I remember

How intoxicating this moment was?”

Eventually, parents made their return

The flames had ceased to burn

I clung to the memory of this day

So the happiness I felt would never go away.