LOCUSTS, ETC.
they do eat after all, for the oak
hickory and maple
have browned tips, a foot or two
of stick on the oily ends
of branches
they are loud
they have a song:
seventeen years grubbing
three weeks
yeah
seventeen years
three weeks mating
etc.
dying
they quiet the night
reversal of keening
it is still tonight
lay face down
on the grass
stars at the back of your head
beneath you
beginning
hear
seventeen years