Here’s a sample of what’s coming in the audiobook for “Strange Throats”:
Thrhythymn
everybody gets down in CicadaTown
beginning every summer
every electric smartasscar
hums a filtered, sawtooth hymn
in a language only the electrics know
subwoofers from monster jam trucks
wubble in that
cleaning-out-your-ears-with a-suave-swab
frequency
noise?
nah,
this is signal
singing praises
to dog day cicadas
no one knows the real lyrics,
but this is what CicadaTown chants:
call or follow
hem and haw or follow
all y’all will fall into the thrall
of the thrum-rhythm-hymn
the thrhythm-hymn
the thrhythymn
an old woman
at a gas station
nods to the sound of the pumps
hips shifting
kids at the crosswalk
shimmy and hum
in binaural beats
mimicking the hiss and stomp of bus brakes
they call it cicada step
it’s just easier to move
in the groove
when the cicadas beat the time:
call or follow
jack your jaw or follow
all y’all will fall into the thrall
of the thrum-rhythm-hymn
the thrhythm-hymn
the thrhythymn
everybody gets down in CicadaTown
even the EVs
hop on their hydraulics
smartass SUVs toss townies
like a funky salad
they land on their feet
and join the growing
circles within circles
singing to the periodicals
on the eve of their coming cycle:
whether you call or follow
whether you hem and haw or follow
whether you call or follow
whether in joy or sorrow
all y’all will fall into the thrall
of the thrum-rhythm-hymn
the thrhythm-hymn
the thrhythymn