by Kevin T McEneaney
Cicadas dwell in trees, eating their sap.
There are well over 3,000 species
and biologists are still counting them.
They remain famous for their boasting songs,
played with timbrels on their skeletal legs.
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In North America, their festival
is on the 13th or 17th year.
Cicadas shed their shells when molting.
They lay their eggs in the slits of tree bark.
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When they become nymphs, they live underground.
The oldest writ mention of cicadas
appears in Homer and Hesiod.
Cicadas were eaten as food in Greece,
providing a pleasant afternoon snack…