Poem: "The Flying Jewels of Spring"

[ysabetwordsmith]

I wrote this about today's cicada hatch. It fills the "chase" square in my 5-1-24 card for the Superhero Bingo Fest. It has been sponsored by Anthony Barrette.


"The Flying Jewels of Spring"


After a warm soaking rain,
the cicadas start to emerge.

Nymphs crawl out of the ground
and cling to the tall grass where
they shed their thick brown skins.

Pale and soft, they clutch the stems
while their wings slowly grow into shape.

Their skins darken as they harden,
tiny eyes taking on a ruby red.

In the spring sunlight,
their wings gleam like gold
amidst the round diamonds
of the last few raindrops.

The cicadas are everywhere,
hiding in the grass like
strange seedheads.

Birds chase them,
and catch some to eat,
but never all of them.

As their wings finally
dry enough, they take
to the air, the sound
almost mechanical.

They flail their way
skyward, awkwardly
learning how to fly.

The air is filled with
ebony, rubies, gold.

Later the males will
sing to attract mates.

The females will saw
their way into stems
to lay their eggs.

Sometimes, this
kills a few twigs or
a whole young bush.

If you want to garden
for wildlife, you have
to welcome the sight
of a few chewed leaves
and punctured stems, even
if you may lose some plants
to the bugs and the beasts.

After all, that's what the plants
are there for in the first place.

Every scarred stem will release
tiny nymphs to burrow into the ground
and spend years mining in secret for
what they need to become

the flying jewels of spring.