Cicada Song by Ryan Norman

Like its controlling figure, the cicada, Ryan Norman’s Cicada Song is a yearning and pulsing creature that fills until its emergence is an impossibility that cannot be ignored. From moment to moment, you may find yourself in an orchard, in the sea, in a river, staring out at your lover—the river, digging a tunnel through the soil, feeding on tree roots, or receiving sustenance from the moon. And the inundation of it is simultaneously surprising and expected—in that it too is cyclical. In the title poem, Norman’s speaker begs, choose me, repeats it, and receives an answer on the wind, the object is singing for someone new. Moments of illumination are offered with such sincerity, and that is this collection’s gift. However, Norman weaves that frankness into intricate sensory language. W’s whoosh through the center of “Crashing” and ecstasy becomes a dance in “Lake Nights”. These flourishes of movement propel the pieces from their earthbound home, up to the swarm.

–Kari Flickinger