Virginia Night Pastoral

Fall 2009 - Volume 13 Number 4

Kelly Sievers, CRNA

In black tupelo treetops

blunt bodies of cicadas

vibrate. Their sultry buzz

arcs above the racket

of crickets’ cadenced legs,

frogs’ gruff gossip. The sound

bends beneath these trees

to wed my brother’s

new tremor, the rise

and fall of his hand

an augur with syllables

silencing our night.