Notice if you will, how
The cicada has departed
Its skin and will now
Sing a song stark
Naked, carried on
The back of the wind.
NB: The title borrowed from Elytis's "Body of Summer," 1943, which begins thusly:
O body of summer, naked, burnt
Eaten away by oil and salt
Body of rock and shudder of the heart
Great ruffling wind in the osier hair
Breath of basil above the curly pubic mound
Full of stars and pine needles
Body, deep vessel of the day!
Marvelous! Summer is the season I write about least and so I need other poets to speak of it for me. I love the way you capture the very spirit of transformation...;
ReplyDeleteI second Joseph's comment on transformation.
ReplyDeleteI hear a little cicada music in the lines, too.
Joe and Conrad,
ReplyDeleteThanks--I'm pleased you both commented positively on this piece. Note also that cicadas are such an overwhelming aural presence in rural Greece that at times you can't even hear yourself think! =:0)!!!