Cicada, 2024

Hello, Dear Ones! We have two cicada broods emerging in my area this summer. Most of them seem to be a bit farther South than I am, although we get some evidence here.

Today’s draft is inspired by my first meeting with a live cicada this summer.

This morning a cicada flew into my throat.

The first alive one of this year’s emergence,

after several days of discarded shells at the edges of the sidewalks,

newly born cicadas lifeless in the path of careless human feet.

It had heft, impact, that cicada —

not enough to catch my breath,

enough to make me pause, put a hand to my throat,

to feel the pulse where it hit. Aware

of the fragile places of my own human body.