17-Year Cicadas

Like an other-worldly siren,

their collective hum

crochets the air—

the hush of ecstatic

angel armies

around the throne

when the Creator

calls for quiet.


In the night when fibromyalgia,

like a blacksmith, tongs

glowing nerve endings,

this rare cicada song

is the quenching bucket,

magnesium for my muscles.


Puzzled by pain,

I’m tempted to

despair, but their holy

shush reminds me

God is everywhere.