Cicada aren’t pests you chide
They may even taste good deep-fried
You may look on with glee
But as for me
I’ll spend the next six weeks inside!

Julie Ashe
Delhi Township

Cicadas live mostly unseen,
But then when they burst from the green,
They’re loud and they’re rude,
They eat tons of food,
And why not? They’re all seventeen

Doug Waters
Fairfield

Though cicada population is dense,
I speak loyally in their defense
They’re just looking for mates,
As required by their fates,
In a singles bar truly immense

Linde Grace White
Finneytown

I love cookin’ up them cicaders
I eat ’em with my mashed potaters
They’re good when they’re fried,
But for regional pride,
They should make ’em a flavor of Graeters

Stacey G. Woolley
Clifton

The cicada is hard to avoid
Prepare to be daily annoyed
Those buggy red eyes
And incredible size
A hideous fly on steroids

Ellie Cook, age 11
Sycamore Township

A cicada was heard to complain,
“Why is there so much rain?”
It caused her great sorrow
That made her want to borrow
An umbrella to cover her brain.

Lauren Croskey, age 11
Anderson Township

The cicadas are coming up real soon
The air will be filled with lots of zoom
Males and females will entangle their legs
Then there will be lots of eggs
The babies will be sent to their underground room

Ray White
Bridgetown

I was served an exciting new dish
(Being tired of beef, chicken and fish)
The chef got a hug
Though I learned I ate “bug”
So please fry those cicadas, don’t squish!

Ellen Hackman
Fort Wright

Cicadas live so smugly
Though they’re really quite ugly
Way down in their holes
Being hunted by moles
Until they emerge to be huggly

Joseph L. Hinson
Sharonville

Buzz, the cicada had landed
Right in the yard where he planned it
Skip the dog needed lunch
He went crunch, crunch, crunch
Where Buzz landed next must be candid

Carol Easley
Sharonville

Flying pigs are Cincy’s mainstay
Ya think it would keep the cicadas away
Not a likely feat
The bugs won’t be beat
So swat I will day to day

Rosemary Booth
West Chester Township