Where the Cicadas Sang

Thomas Hemminger

August 25, 2024

I found you in a San Antonio sunset,

watching boats on the river.

The bougainvillea made you a vision,

as if Jose Arpa captured you there. 

I sipped to the late sounds of summer

as I dared myself to speak to you. 

Then, you saw me, too. 

We stayed there for eternity, 

while heavy sounds slipped away. 

We fell in love,

and a golden twilight seemed to approve. 

There we began our lifetime together, 

on a Texas river where the cicadas sang. 

Thomas Hemminger is an elementary music teacher living in Dallas, Texas. His work has been published locally in Dallas, as well as in The Wilda Morris Poetry Challenge, The Texas Poetry Assignment, and The Poetry Catalog. His personal hero is Mr. Fred Rogers, the creator of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. It was through America’s favorite “neighbor” that Thomas learned of the importance of loving others, and of giving them their own space and grace to grow.