Rain People Gathering by Land Eagle, Taos Pueblo, acrylic and sand on board, photo courtesy of Blue Rain Gallery, Taos, New Mexico
This haiku was written for One Deep Breath´s prompt " the countryside."
Until I was 11 or 12 years old, my family lived out in the country. My brothers and I spent many a summer evening swatting mosquitoes and chasing fireflies. Sometimes we caught the fireflies or "lightning bugs" in Mason jars and used an ice pick to poke holes in the lids. We´d carry the jars to our rooms, hoping those little flickers of light would guide us to dreamland.
Chicadas lead song
lightning bugs join the chorus
tiny flames of light
lovely haiku, Tara, which brought back very similar childhood memories :-) i hate to admit it, but occasionally we would try to pull the "light" from the bug while it was "on" and then wear it as a ring...but more times than not, they would end up in the Mason jar.
Posted by: susanlavonne | 19 October 2006 at 00:04
Love the picture. I'll have to try sand in my acrylics sometime. That one turned out nice.
Posted by: Skyelarke | 17 October 2006 at 13:11
You have definitely taken me down memory lane with this post. Cheers.
Posted by: Mike | 13 October 2006 at 03:07
Wonderful painting. We don't have lightning bugs in New Zealand. I love the last line - "tiny flames of light"
Posted by: Catherine | 12 October 2006 at 21:27
I've still never seen a firefly...someday...
Posted by: Marilyn | 12 October 2006 at 14:12
Beautiful, lively poem and artwork! Reminds me of good childhood memories.
Posted by: Deborah | 12 October 2006 at 04:08
Beautiful painting and haiku Tara! I've never seen a lightning bug :)
Posted by: Tammy | 12 October 2006 at 00:39
Growing up in rural Oklahoma, I was a collector, too, one container for lightning bugs, another for jar fly shells. Your haiku brings back memories.
Posted by: Sandy | 11 October 2006 at 22:14
I love seeing you carry on all the strands of your life while you're there in Seville. Hope you are continuing to knock 'em dead in language class ;D.
Posted by: Laura | 11 October 2006 at 14:08
I've never seen a firefly. Thank you for letting me experience seeing one through your haiku. Beautiful.
Posted by: Imelda | 11 October 2006 at 13:01
Tara,
Yes I do remeber those care-free days in the park at night capturing the lightening bugs with a mason jar. Merci, & gracias
rel
Posted by: rel | 11 October 2006 at 10:31
lightning bugs, i like that. do you get those thunder flies? tiny things that crawl under the glass of framed pictures. i think they warn of thunder, they're too small to make much noise themselves.
wonderful haiku, tara.
Posted by: ian russell | 11 October 2006 at 09:40
I love fireflies. I saw a lot of them when I lived in Malawi. Not many in Scotland, though!
Posted by: Crafty Green Poet | 11 October 2006 at 09:29
Your haiku and fireflys..love them both!I look forward to seeing the fireflies for only one night in June my cats do the annual dance of leaping into the air trying to catch one.. a true delight to watch!! =^.^=
Posted by: naturegirl | 11 October 2006 at 05:19
Yes! Me too. What a sweet memory!
Posted by: Melba | 11 October 2006 at 05:01
Such a lovely haiku :) I adore fireflies, and they have returned in droves to Michigan over the past few summers. I spent many evening this past summer sitting on my back porch with a glass of wine, watching them flicker on one by one until those "tiny flames of light" were everywhere. Although I'm loving the fall, I miss my firefly buddies :)
Posted by: Becca | 11 October 2006 at 01:30
Growing up here in Southern California we didn't have fireflies, and so they have always fascinated me - they seemed so magical and exotic. I was so thrilled when I finally saw them as a young adult, that I clapped my hands and did a little dance. It was like seeing fairies in flight!
Your lovely haiku brought that memory clearly back to me - thank you!
xo
Posted by: tinker | 11 October 2006 at 01:15
Love the last line - really perfect!
Posted by: twitches | 11 October 2006 at 00:19
Lovely haiku! That's just what I did as a kid and so did my kids!! wonderful memories!
Posted by: jzr | 10 October 2006 at 23:25
At some point, I don't recall when exactly, I knew that trapping bugs in a jar was wrong, like keeping tigers in a cage or staying in a bad marriage ... Now that I have a little boy I am faced with this "catching bugs" issue again ...
Posted by: Richard | 10 October 2006 at 23:18
We are all flickers of light if we want to be.
Posted by: awareness | 10 October 2006 at 22:56
I remember lightning bugs. They were so fun. What happened to them? Where did they go? We don't have them in large numbers anymore. Does anyone?
Posted by: ally bean | 10 October 2006 at 20:23
I remember just such times while growing up and you've really captured the feeling the sounds create.
Posted by: Star | 10 October 2006 at 19:44
I LOVE this picture! Not quite so keen on bugs though!
Posted by: Kamsin | 10 October 2006 at 18:44