Aaron Robertson
Strange Kingdom
Newly-spent cicada skins
race to some uncertain end,
microscopically speeding ahead
heedless of their basic loss.
Metamorphosis past, these
nymphal instars have long since
ejected into winged existence, cast
amongst a maze of supple leaves.
Summer has come, coalesced,
and must suddenly go for those
whose evanescence seems unfit
to remake a species so persistent.
Desperate noise now envelops this
canopy, sibilant with the syncopated
buckling of abdominal membranes meant
for a thousand sympathetic sides.
Aaron Robertson is a writer and musician living in Hikurangi, New Zealand. His poetry has previously appeared in Snakeskin and 52250. More can be found on the blog of Whangarei writers’ group, Take Flight (takeflightnz.wordpress.com).