Sharan Strange
Strange’s narrative poems often engage themes of family, rural southern childhood, and lost innocence. Cofounder of the Dark Room Collective, Strange served as a contributing and an advisory editor of Callaloo. (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/sharan-strange)
Analysis
Childhood is about fun kids have during the summer and fun is catching fireflies "[catching] them in jars, [punching] holes, [carrying] them around for days". enjoying the way a firefly's body lit up, chasing them around in amazement. Childhood was having fun figuring out "what was the secret to light" the fireflies had. How even though there were "nasty tonics of childhood" these little flying things made you forget about the rough times making childhood a wonderful time.
Devices
"They lit our evenings like dreams we thought we could have"
This is a simile comparing the fireflies' light to dreams, meaning that the way they happily lit up the evening is the way dreams were expected to be even though most of the time they weren't.
"mere insects carrying such cargo, magical caravans flickering beneath low july skies."
makes the picture of being outside in the dark because it is still warm and watching the fireflies light up the darkness. in a way replacing streetlights by being a light themself.
This is a simile comparing the fireflies' light to dreams, meaning that the way they happily lit up the evening is the way dreams were expected to be even though most of the time they weren't.
"mere insects carrying such cargo, magical caravans flickering beneath low july skies."
makes the picture of being outside in the dark because it is still warm and watching the fireflies light up the darkness. in a way replacing streetlights by being a light themself.