Here’s a dodoitsu for this week’s #TankaTuesday challenge.
A breath exhaled in wonder
Stars fly the darkened grasses
Bits of light to fill a jar
Child’s joy complete
A dodoitsu is a Japanese poem characterized as having a syllable structure of 7-7-7-5: 26 syllables. No rhyming. No title.
It also requires a”kigo” word. I had to look that up! I had no idea. I picked fire fly. I don’t know if you are actually supposed to use the word, so I may have done that part wrong. It wasn’t intentional. Catching fireflies in a jar is kind of a universal thing – at least in places where fireflies live.
When I was a kid, it was rare to see one. I lived in the woods and away from the city, so you’d think the place would be swarming. But, yeah, not so much.
I now live about ten miles from where I grew up and close to town. We will see dozens across our lawn on any given summer night. I’m not sure what changed, but I am happy for it. They always bring a smile to my face and make me think about being a kid, even though they weren’t a big part of it. Maybe that is what makes them so special to me now.
Life is a dark ride 
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