Chine-jo’s Death Haiku

.

How easily it

Glows, easily it goes out,

The fire-fly blink.

~ Chine-jo [Englished by Phillip Whidden]

.

The worker bee goes out; comes in from bloom

To bloom; from hour to hour.  She brings

Her nectar; brings it; finds an eight-sides room

To store it in.  She flies out on her wings

Again; and then again; again;  flies out;

Flies in, in sunshine light.; and then she goes

Inside the darkness of the hive.  No doubt

Besmirches all her work, work, work.  She knows

(Though maybe “knows” is not quite right for this)

When she must sleep.  We know that she must sleep.

She doesn’t know a word at all like “bliss.”

The meaning of her life is hardly deep.

  The firefly softly glows, goes softly dark.

    Life comes.  Life goes.  Life’s message comes.  It’s stark.

Fireflies | How long has it been since you’ve seen a firefly? – YouTube