The Cricket’s Silence
Please, do not quit on my account.
Do not let my presence be so daunting
that it stifles your song.
No, dear friend, resume your tune.
My eardrums long to be stirred
by your music, like a zephyr
on the leas in mid-May.
Be silent no more, little one.
The evening sky bids you, sing!
Lift your lilts unto the meadow
and pacify the day’s activity into
a stillness, so serene.
Would not the birds chime their
melodies if I strolled below their perches?
Would not the toads bellow their
cadences as I tread the paths of their marsh?
Then why, virtuoso, do you silence now
while I pass through your meadow?
Be merry and sing your song,
do not forsake me in silence.
Lily Thomas is a senior at Trevecca Nazarene University where she majors in English with a concentration in creative writing. She also holds an editorial position for the Cumberland River Review based out of Nashville.