The cricket

Each and every quiet night
A rythmic chirp fills the air.
The shrill sound resounds loud and clear
It goes every where, far and near.

One little creature resting in the grass
makes that sound,
a continuous shrill sound
A sound that penetrates the shroud of silence that drowns the neighbor hood
A sound that bounces off trees and buildings as it travels to an unknown destination

Every night, without fail
The chirp floats in through my window
Some time it is slow,
like the beating to dulled heart
And sometimes it is quick
like the incessant buzzing of mosquito in your ear

It carries a message
the nightly news
Always prompt and uninterrupted
All my issues lay before me
In its chirp
that each night I hear

The striking monotony
The gentle caress
all in strong opposition to one another
all combining to form a melody
My lullaby each night

The crickets chirp shall put me to sleep
it is my freind saying good night
In its shrillness it carries all the messages I need to hear
and one by one I try to interpret them
before the fingers of sleep seduce me in bed.

Date posted: September 26, 1999.

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