PLAINCHANT OF A CELIBATE CICADA
I hope, dear God, my monkish chant
gives pleasure to your ear,
I sing it for your joy alone
though others sometimes hear
--
Young females perk up at my call
-- though I'd hoped You'd
come near --
And smile at my sweet psalmody,
so celibate and sincere.
I try then to get lost in song
and hide my private sound,
Hid perfectly within the long
close phrases of a round,
Forget all care of private voice
in mystic joy profound,
Sing sexlessly, or be content
to hum in the background.
But yearning creeps into my voice
between the covering trees,
And love calls fill the lofty vaults
and leafy canopies,
Behold! our psalms brings virgins near,
and love-struck devotees!
It may be time to end our chant
for other harmonies. #
from the forthcoming book Prayers of 100 Animals A to Z, by William Cleary
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