The Last Cicada

The Last Cicada

Near the end of every summer

Just when you get ready to go back to school

And put your grass stained sneakers

away away away

The Last Cicada waits

During all those summer days

There were millions and a million more than that

But not as many as there are stars

And certainly not as many as all the love I have for you in my heart

Remember how they could keep you awake

All those hollering cicadas singing

Calling out to each other

Their screeches and creaking music coming through your open window

Just because you couldn’t understand them doesn’t mean they don’t have meaning

But now their songs husssh

away away away

And those green trees you and the cicadas spent your days of summer under

Begin to turn yellow

And orange

And red

Until all their colors have faded

Away away away

And then there was just one

You never know which one it will be

But it could have been one of the cicadas you have been lucky enough to see

The last cicada goes

Looking at the world through eyes unlike yours but they have seen the same things as you

Flitting from branch to branch

Singing a lonely solo

Sometimes you might be lonely too

But come every sunrise and every summer

With new green and your old pair of sneakers

You will no longer be lonely

And the world will be filled

With millions and millions of hollering cicadas

And endless things you can do

But always remember the last cicada

Singing a lonely solo

Until their final song has faded

Away away away