A Poem: Cicada

I knew you first by sound alone
ragged lullaby of summer
primal hum
song that stitches my life
August by August
into one hot rhythm of longing.
Then one day under branches
I found the pale, whole
spent shell of you
your head all eyes
wings traced with veins
skin a verdant shimmer
no sign of your rough-hewn instruments
membranes and chambers
muscles rubbed to ring through heat.
Ghostly vocalist
your song is my song.
Pierce thick air
suture my days with broken note
after broken note
give this ache an anthem
until summer comes no more.