Attention Must Be Paid
brood XIV
the unbearable hord
of harsh noisemakers
invading my auditory canal
cannot stop their racket
cannot break the cycle
of their seventeen year bacchanal
brood XIV
I dont want to know much about you
your molted exoskeleton
your red eyes orange wings
your annoying invasion
of my sweet sweet mulberry tree
brood XIV
yet somehow
I treasure your reliable return
for when the forecast that the world
will continue to turn
depends on nymphs going underground
i can dig the fact
of the odds being
that when you return
I’ll be the one under the ground
5 thoughts on "Attention Must Be Paid"
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the refrain of “brood xiv” is simply delightful, so is the earned gravity of that last thought. wonderful to read you again, Jim.
and my attention you had. Enjoyed!
Yes !!!!!! And I took the pleasure of reading it twice. Great to read you again and don’t go getting planted anytime soon. We have a date with these little buckets in XIV years. P.s. Dear spell check, its never buckets 😉
Jim! We have been joking around the couple of days about “Kentucky cliches.” In a very loving way. Cicadas are at the top the list! This my favorite poem about cicadas so far this year! We lost count earlier today. By the Coleman wrote one today. The title mentions cicadas. Then he writes the poem without mentioning them. Clever, huh?
The insects keep veering off the road too !