In '87, we bid them adieu

In '04, they arrived - right on cue

When they die, cicadas rot

In the sun - when it's hot,

And they stink, like a farm or a zoo

Scott Smyth, Walnut Hills

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LIMERICKS

• ONLINE EXTRA: More cicada limericks

My dog found a new tasty treat:

The cicadas all over the street

They're better than kibble

Much more than a nibble

She calls them "the other white meat"

Lon Bussell, Anderson Township

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A most fashion-conscious and funny bee

Wore wings much too large for a honeybee

Red glasses she sported

So she was reported

The Tristate's First Cicada Wannabe

Nancy Connelly, Delhi Township

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West side cicadas drink Miller

East side cicadas drink wine

But all over town

When they're fried up and brown

They're the secret ingredient in Skyline

Tim Smith, Terrace Park

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See how the graduates fly

So long in the loam did they lie

But cicada commencement

Breeds human resentment

For I'll be a grub till I die

Shannon Grubb, Eastgate

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There was a cicada called Joe

Who was captured while flying too slow

But with a quick toss

In a sweet butter sauce

He's now the poor man's escargot

Pat Busse, Aurora, Ind.

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There was a cicada named Fred

Who rose from his underground bed

At seventeen years

He was moved to tears

When the girls that he wooed all fled

Richard L. Duell, Somerville

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Cicadas are really the buzz

Scaring people like nothin' else does

If you look in their eyes

You'll see they too are surprised

You're uglier than they heard you was

Elizabeth Ball, Loveland

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Cranky teens erupt from the ground

With a screaming and annoying sound

No parents, no curfew

So all that they do

Is hang in the trees and fly all around

Allie Yauch, Sharonville

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Red eyes and wings spread wide

The male takes flight in search of a bride

He sings his song

Along with the throng

With his passion as his guide

Thomas L. Van Auken, Independence

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There was a gang from Brood (e)X

A noisy bunch of insects

They were eager to mate

And it sealed their fate

Rigor mortis was their last reflex.

Virginia Bucher, Hyde Park

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There was once a cicada named Sadie

She really was quite a lady.

But after a seventeen year wait

Unto a male she did mate

And with a smile died old Sadie

Linda Wolff, Delhi Township