The silence is broken
by a minuscule voice
I believe I’ve heard spoken
but never this close.
It is quiet but clear
sounding frightfully near
though its tone implies
I have nothing to fear.
But fear I do
when I do not find
the creature who
can both sing and hide.
So loud it’s become
And repetitive too!
It begins with the sun
and sings until noon.
I cannot unravel
what it’s trying to say
but something substantial
is coming my way.
“Poverty or wealth!”
it screams from the shadows.
“Sickness or health!”
the quiet voice bellows.
I search for days
my mind a mad mess
til I find the place
where the singer now rests.
“A cricket,” I sigh
tired and frustrated
wondering why
I had been so agitated.
The simple “chirp chirp!”
was simple all along
neither joy nor hurt
but an insect’s best song.
Recently, there have been a lot of crickets in the house. It's hard to believe the season are changing so quickly! Anyway, after seeing (and squashing) two or three within the span of two days, I started to get a little paranoid. They always seemed to be in the bathroom too, which made it all the more annoying.
I was working one day when I heard four distinct "chirps" from within my room. I froze, brows lowered and eyes scanning the room. Of course, the clever little bug was probably off in some obscure corner I could never reach. But the noise still got to me, and, after seeing several more later on, I started to feel like they were watching me.
I did some research on crickets (not because I thought they were going to turn on me planet of the apes style, of course) and found out that a lot of cultures place great significance on crickets. In Brazil, a cricket is sometimes thought to be a sort of harbinger of wealth, illness, and even death. Barbados has similar beliefs that place the simple "chirp chirp" at great significance.
The whole thing made me realize how easily we overthink things. For me, something I take way too seriously are social cues. I overanalyze everything and then place significance on fluctuation and body language to the point that I'm not much different than people who believe that a cricket chirping means death. If I just step back a moment I usually realize that it's just a cricket.
Comments