Alitaptap
Alitaptap is Tagalog (Filipino) for firefly. Come twilight time back home in
Manila when I was a little boy and with my brothers and friends we wait for
them to show up. And they did not disappoint. They knew we were waiting.
They twinkle around us, do flying dances and land on our shirts and hands.
A couple we collect in a jar and show to our parents. Yes the Winged Fire now
I call them. It was such a joy, a very pleasant memory of my youth. I still see
them here in the States and they bring a smile to my face.
Fireflies like the cicadas have a very short time to propagate. Thus the songs
and the fire dance they do to attract their mates, lay eggs and die. Doing this
for eons somehow they achieve immortality. Not unlike our souls in their quest
for a new life, emptied of the vessel a new one awaits.
Please check out the firefly video, thank you.