Carpe Diem #221, Hotaru (Firefly)

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Another day in Carpe Diem's haiku paradise. As you all know we are busy with classical Japanese kigo (seasonwords) for Summer. And we have entered mid-summer. Today our prompt is Hotaru (Firefly). The Firefly is one of the most popular insects in Japan. Lots of Haikus and songs are written with hotaru in it. Why the popularity, I'm not so sure. At one point, hotaru could be located everywhere throughout the islands of Japan. However these creatures require very clean river and lake water and over the years have diminished a lot in the areas where they could be seen. The natural light is probably what creates the awe for the people in Japan.

There are lot of songs, pictures and so on about Firelfly. I love to share here a song about Fireflies. It's called : Hotaru Kara Satoyama (The Firefly To The Satoyama).

And there are several haiku written on fireflies. Let's take a look at a few of them.

This one is written by Gabi Greve:

first firefly -
the moon also shows
his face

Or these by Issa:

Kisa Lagoon--
sparkling with fireflies
the rice planting boat

an evening spot
for calling fireflies...
planting a willow

Fireflies are a joy to write haiku about, but in ancient Japan the Fireflies were caught for pleasure and I love to share a woodblock here:

Source: Catchin Fireflies

Well ... let me look at my own Firefly-haiku. This one I have written in one of the posts in May as inspired by Kyoshi Takahama:

firefly party
their fragile light caresses me -
no lonely night

Or this one inspired on a haiku by Basho:

at sun down
the fragile light
of a firefly

OK ... let me think ... can I write another haiku on Firefly. Hm ... not easy, but I have to try.

dancing fireflies
in the twilight-zone between day and night
can I catch them?

Ah! such fragility
the firefly with his soft light -
a lullaby

Well ... I hope you did like the read and that you enjoyed the Firefly-song. Be inspired and creative. Share your haiku with us all here on Carpe Diem.

This prompt will stay on 'til June15th 11.59 AM (CET) and I will post our next episode, Kakitsubata (Blue flag or Rabbit ear Iris), later on today around 10.00 PM (CET). The linking widget will open on 10.00 PM today. Have fun.