I love firefly. It takes me back to my childhood. This year I bought “firefly jars” from Backyard Safari for my grandchildren. It has lots of holes in the lid. The children keep them over night and release them in the morning.
Yes, fireflies tend to bring us back to our childhood. “Firefly jars” – hmm, what will they think of next 🙂 And that’s great what the kids are doing – enjoy nature’s wonders and set them free – lovely.
Wow! This is deeply beautiful. It is hard to make rhyming poems seem relevant and serious, but this had deep meaning and you pulled it off well. This is my favorite so far of your poems I’ve read. Keep writing and sharing!
Wow! Maryam,
You are digging through the archives.
Glad you found Firefly and enjoyed it enough to post a comment. Thank you dear.
All good wishes,
Eric
I think It’s natural for children to be cruel to an extent especially little boys I know I was and so were all the other kids. Now I don’t like to hurt anything if possible.
such innocence eloquently captured, this reminds of your wise and soothing comment when i wrote “pink”…about that childhood mishap with the baby bird…thank you for your kindness, you don’t know how much guilt you finally alleviated…
I love this poem. I wrote about this on a English Paper with a few others. It always make laugh, the ignorance of people. Brilliant. Thanks for Liking our post. Hope to see you back soon.
Very true George. That is what I always say – look into the mirror. Each will see and take away something different – depending on one’s level of intellectual spiritual development. All good wishes, Eric
Alas, for all the little bright lights of people’s abilities that die because they are forced to glow all the time by other people who want only the light. A slower death across time than the short-lived death of the firefly :(.
I wonder as children, how many of us killed insects deliberately, out of ignorance or by accident. How many adults are doing so even now…how many lost lessons, I wonder…
What I gathered in this poem is that wisdom consists in studying the nature of people and things, how they operate, before initiating action that is consistent with the way they are made, or the way they behave.
Of course you need to make holes in the lid with a long nail and a rock! And then you put in grass and various leaves in there for the fireflies to munch on. And then maybe they live for an hour. I don’t know what the lesson is other than to leave the poor fireflies alone. But for a kid, catching them to try to have a little light in your room when you went to sleep, to keep fireflies as your special pet, was too great a temptation.
The pain I feel:
I can’t conceal-
I “think” I can heal.
Our thinking that we can heal or make things better is subjective -from our point of view to make the conscience feel better- the firefly may not die with a hole in the lid but that is not where it belongs.
I love firefly. It takes me back to my childhood. This year I bought “firefly jars” from Backyard Safari for my grandchildren. It has lots of holes in the lid. The children keep them over night and release them in the morning.
Hello Sheryl,
Yes, fireflies tend to bring us back to our childhood. “Firefly jars” – hmm, what will they think of next 🙂 And that’s great what the kids are doing – enjoy nature’s wonders and set them free – lovely.
All good wishes,
Eric
Wow! This is deeply beautiful. It is hard to make rhyming poems seem relevant and serious, but this had deep meaning and you pulled it off well. This is my favorite so far of your poems I’ve read. Keep writing and sharing!
Wow! Maryam,
You are digging through the archives.
Glad you found Firefly and enjoyed it enough to post a comment. Thank you dear.
All good wishes,
Eric
Sad, but at least you learned that valuable lesson from the firefly, and not a person….. same can be said with matters of the heart….. 🙂
Celeste
Children do plenty for various reasons – and learn from it.
It’s another matter when as adults, they deny ever having done naughty things – or worse, continue to do it as adults.
Peace, Eric
I couldnt agree more…. 🙂
I think It’s natural for children to be cruel to an extent especially little boys I know I was and so were all the other kids. Now I don’t like to hurt anything if possible.
Same here Dennis – as a kid, I’ve killed quite a few critters. Not anymore – and I go out of my way to ensure no harm comes to any insects even.
Very nice Eric. Found your blog while browsing Subhan Zein’s blog. Following to stay in touch.
Thank you Nifti and welcome aboard. Left a comment in your post Scarlet.
Cheers, Eric
Well thought out.
Thank you. Glad you found it so :-0
such innocence eloquently captured, this reminds of your wise and soothing comment when i wrote “pink”…about that childhood mishap with the baby bird…thank you for your kindness, you don’t know how much guilt you finally alleviated…
Thank you Que – this is innocence portrayed, the innocence of a child. A rite that all of us went through. Peace, Eric
I love this poem. I wrote about this on a English Paper with a few others. It always make laugh, the ignorance of people. Brilliant. Thanks for Liking our post. Hope to see you back soon.
Firefly in a jar or one’s palms has been the genesis for many poems and snippets. Glad you like mine.
As for laughing at ignorance > see it all around. A good place to start would be city hall, I reckon.
P/s I left a comment in you Lifes intricacies – please check your blog spam folder.
We really don’t need to look any further than the mirror, and then make the effort to learn and transform. Great post, Eric!
Very true George. That is what I always say – look into the mirror. Each will see and take away something different – depending on one’s level of intellectual spiritual development. All good wishes, Eric
Alas, for all the little bright lights of people’s abilities that die because they are forced to glow all the time by other people who want only the light. A slower death across time than the short-lived death of the firefly :(.
I relish such comments, the ability to convey thoughts with such poetic elegance.
Thank you very much, Eric 🙂
Oh no! He killed the firefly…with love and admiration and a desire to keep it to himself. Lesson learnt … I hope.
Yes bad boy…
I wonder as children, how many of us killed insects deliberately, out of ignorance or by accident. How many adults are doing so even now…how many lost lessons, I wonder…
What I gathered in this poem is that wisdom consists in studying the nature of people and things, how they operate, before initiating action that is consistent with the way they are made, or the way they behave.
Yes, such observation and reflection helps us grow in many way. Peace, Eric 🙂
Of course you need to make holes in the lid with a long nail and a rock! And then you put in grass and various leaves in there for the fireflies to munch on. And then maybe they live for an hour. I don’t know what the lesson is other than to leave the poor fireflies alone. But for a kid, catching them to try to have a little light in your room when you went to sleep, to keep fireflies as your special pet, was too great a temptation.
As kids we’ve done alot of things, though some adults might have faded memories…
The pain I feel:
I can’t conceal-
I “think” I can heal.
Our thinking that we can heal or make things better is subjective -from our point of view to make the conscience feel better- the firefly may not die with a hole in the lid but that is not where it belongs.
Very true Aparna – people sometimes feel they know what is best for others…
Thanks for those 3 lines – lovely 🙂 Rhymes and hides a truth too.
You should do more. Cheers, Eric
Too bad all humans have to learn about life at the expense of other forms of life, and sometimes to our own hurt.
Very true Ian.
But many simply don’t learn do they…a huge gap yawns between knowing and doing something about it