EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE

 

 From dwelling seventeen years under ground

Emerge Cicadas; though unlike the bears,

Whose appetites are keen from lying bound

In hibernation less than half the year.

These insects feed on roots the livelong while

It takes to raise our children to High School;

Keener than adolescents to beguile

The season with romantic interludes--

And much more focused. Rising from the earth

They beat the eardrums with their venous wings,

While news reporters weary us to death

With recipes to cook and eat the things.

(Our Governor himself has fancied them

As colored like the flag of Maryland!)