CICADA

  

My shell was getting tight,

And hardly could I breathe.

I strained with all my might,

And scaled a poplar tree

To reach a certain height.

 

No farther could I climb.

The past was growing dim.

To leave it all behind

Was all my longing grim.

Arthritis seized my spine.

 

I waited and I watched;

A Quaker paralyzed,

Enduring all to reach

Beyond what I despised:

My liberty to hatch.

 

And all that I could think

Was bounded in the shell

That held me on the brink,

While still my spirit swelled!

I sought the missing link,

 

And found it suddenly:

The world that I had known

Evolved from out of me,

As the same shield of bone

That rendered me unfree.

 

And what was yet to come

Would mirror me likewise.

When all that I had done

Cracked open, I did rise

To see my armor hung

 

Like a museum piece,

To scholars hearts so dear:

Who study every crease

While on their deafened ears

My droning mantra beats!