Larry D. Thacker’s poetry can be found or is forthcoming in more than ninety publications including The Still Journal, Poetry South, Tower Poetry Society, Mad River Review, Spillway, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Mojave River Review, Mannequin Haus, Ghost City Press, Jazz Cigarette, and Appalachian Heritage. His books include Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia and the poetry books, Voice Hunting and Memory Train, as well as the forthcoming, Drifting in Awe. He’s presently working on his MFA in both poetry and fiction.

Behind the vibration

of a trimmer and push mower.
Half hidden behind the back and forth
sweep of a leaf blower. You catch it
passing through an intersection
too quickly. Down a side road, a flash
of possibly noisy green,
buzzing up, but too faint to be sure.
The traffic and laughing kids layer on.
The first cicadas of the year
assign their first soloists. Mixed
within the frequency of high up
window air conditioners and generators
behind buildings. Idling
diesel engines of morning beer trucks
shuddering the ground, calling up
the rest of the chorus so we might
hear better tomorrow