I HEARD THE CRICKETS....

"There's something about a warm summer night where all the boundaries of the world seem to fall to the softness of moonlight and crickets..." - Craig D. Lounsbrough

I heard the crickets last night, while the Cat Plant snored away in his pot. They lulled him to sleep, while ancient grasses waved in the dark breeze.

Mist, and sunset blended as one, through the smoke from far away. The air smelled of  burnt embers, old cigarettes, forest fires  brought to life, threatening to choke this quiet world. But the crickets  chirped on, in their monotonous chorus, never ceasing.

Most of the roses  hung heavy like perfumed  paper mache . the last of their kind. The last of the summer ones. They died a little in the heat , that ever present  scorching heat , swathed in perspiration. The cricket song pierced the night, and the roses slept.

On they droned .  Making music  to sooth.

But the bees. Oh the bees were quite happy. Soaked in pollen as they  laboured from flower to flower. Oblivious to the crickets. Oblivious to the human trying to stroke their yellow drenched  fuzz. They just buzzed sleepily.

"If their song does not somehow lull us to a softer sleep, then we have become deaf ..." -Craig D. Lounsbrough

The world is a softer, gentler place . The sound of the crickets pulls us in. Brings us into the warmth that staggers the mind.

I heard the crickets. In the morning, noon and night. I heard them loud as day and night. But I have never seen them. Invisible titans of late summer.

Morning sky pales 

Evening sky looms.

I heard the crickets in my day dream. 

I wonder if they pray for rain. To release the scent of  dry earth to be deluged in glorious rain. I wonder if they know. I wonder if that's why they sing.

And yet, another Cat plant  sleeps  while  crickets call. They sing their songs in swarms. Melodies that soften the days  and fills the nights with quiet promise. I heard the crickets.....

"I slept alongside the souls I'd never known. as the stars sparkled overhead like glitter, and the crickets sang their song..." - Meagan Church

Photographs 2023