Poetry Friday: Haiku

 In the cicada's cry
No sign can foretell
How soon it must die.  

~Basho

This is the year for the 17 year cicadas to emerge.  I've been listening--expecting an invasion, a cacophany of sound.

For the cicada's cry
No one can tell
How long I must wait 

 

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Comments

[Leslie]

I've seen one so far. We can definitely hear them, though!

My sweet hubby won an honorable mention for a national hiaku contest. If I can dig it up, I'll post it.

[Rebecca]

Sad ol' Basho. I love him.

[Pam]

When I was young my family had a cottage along a river here in PA. One year in particular I remember the 17 year locusts emerged! They were everywhere! It would be nothing to have 30 on the picnic table! They clung to trees and shed their skins and there would be 100's to a tree. I remember fishing with them and you would throw them out on the line and they would just fly away with it and then fall into the water. The Bass went nuts! They would crunch under your feet, fly in your hair, my Mom went nuts that year - oh my hair! That was the days of the big tease! I'm laughing so hard I can hardly type. There was not many outdoor meals as the picnic table that year! But boy did they sizzle and pop when you cooked them on the marshmallow sticks ... I know gross and mean but, hey, I was 9 and it seemed like Armageddon!!!! Thanks for the memory Kim!

[Kim from Hiraeth]

I remember a year like that in Ohio, too, Pam.

I've never really thought they were scary. I think they are fascinating. Especially the skins. I've always wanted to see one emerge.