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Charles Ghigna - Father Goose®

the author of more than 100 award-winning books from Random House, Disney, Hyperion, Time Inc.,

Scholastic, Simon & Schuser, Capstone, Boyds Mills, Abrams, Orca, Charlesbridge and other publishers.

Why The Cicada Sings



Why The Cicada Sings

Seventeen years
Under ground
The cicada waits
Without making a sound.

Then one summer morning
With no one in sight
The cicada emerges
Into the light.

No wonder she sings
All evening long.
For seventeen years
She held back her song.


©Debra and Charles Ghigna



6 comments:

Diane Mayr said...

Love it!

One of my all-time favorite poems is also about a cicada:

shell of a cicada
it sang itself
utterly away

by Matsuo Basho

Thanks for adding your poem to the mix!

Irene Latham said...

No wonder she sings, indeed! Love those cicada-songs. Thanks for sharing.

Charles Ghigna said...

Thanks, Diane and Irene. Love the Basho haiku!

Michelle Heidenrich Barnes said...

One of my favorite songs of summer. Really nice poem!

Keri said...

The natural world is such a marvelous inspiration -- I love the "well of COURSE!" tone of this poem. ;-)

Charles Ghigna said...

Thanks Michelle and Keri.

I find it fascinating that you are a beekeeper, Keri!
Here's a little poem for you:

IF I COULD BE YOUR HONEYBEE

for Keri

If I could be your honeybee
I'd zip and zoom around each bloom
Just like a little jet.

If I could be your honeybee
I'd spin and dance from here to France
And do a pirouette.

If I could be your honeybee
I’d juke and jive around each hive
All the way to Rome.

If I could be your honeybee
I’d tour the world and then I’d fly
Back to my beehive home.