The Sound of Cicadas

Periodical Cicada — Original photo by Katja Schulz on Flickr

I love the sound of cicadas

Their sharp summer shimmer

Ricocheting through the neighborhood

Even here in Brooklyn

Not as impressive as in other parts, perhaps

But nonetheless there

Ancient, cacophonous and electric

A signal cast off unceasingly from their vacillating membranes

Maybe for me it’s nostalgia

As a child their music in the bush of Australia was ubiquitous, loud, almost deafening

But also an expected and omnipresent backdrop

Ever there

So that even on a solitary walk through this hot dry land, you were never alone

Their immortal hum accompanying you from their affixed positions upon leaf, branch, stem and trunk

Bristling with static

Now, as I’m older, their noise masks my tinnitus, too

My own angry insectoid hiss and fizz

Invisible, but unstoppable, perpetually ringing within my ears

So the clash of insect and infirmity provides a soothing cancellation for me

Some fear the little brutes