Poetic Musings: Childhood River Haiku by Chen-ou Liu

childhood river

the light of fireflies dim

... and dimmer 

Editor's Choice, Enchanted Garden, 8, 2024

Chen-ou Liu

Commentary by Editor Steliana Cristina Voicu

The childhood house is a gem for many of us, the most beautiful thing in the world and when we grow up, this gem turns into diamond, we compare everything with it… how mother cooked that pudding, how grandpa took care of the basil and so on… The childhood river is shine and brightful like fireflies, but these fireflies dim… and dimmer, this picture is so beautiful, yet poisonous. Why the fireflies light dim? Maybe because the boat moves away from the shore (we have that info by the ”river” keyword). As the author moves away from his birthplace, the glimmers are more and more pale. In the same way, as we become adults, we leave, we move, and the birthplace becomes a memory. How many of us are lucky enough to stay in the place where they were born and raised? Most of them go to another city or even abroad. Fireflies are the expression of the simple things in life, those which matter the most. The childhood is a river for the author, which means a flowing water, which can be associated with the thread of life that carries the author through all the places where he grew up or lived at a given time.

FYI: This haiku could be read as a sequel to the following:

floating world ...

this childhood river

of summer stars

Cattails, April 2017

Chen-ou Liu

And the following haiku could be read as its sequel:

night of fireflies ...

all that remains 

of our on-off love

NeverEnding Story, August 31 2023

Chen-ou Liu