J.T. Whitehead

THE STUDY OF ECOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF A MOST CLASSICAL MUSIC

I prefer the word being to the word

insect. Or the word bug. Haven’t you heard

the cicadas drumming out their rhythm

on their tymbals, your foot tapping with them?

I’m not asking about hearing the wings

of the butterflies, swimming in the air

around the bird-bath – and I say “swimming”

because of the stroke they gave us – out there

in the yard, where the bath holds old fruit rinds

meant to tempt them to arrive and make home

here, to share their space until my son finds

them, noiseless compared to the honeycomb

that draws a comparable crowd. A Zen master

might hear that, but not us. Don’t consider

the possibility of hearing them.

But others, say crickets, bring a rhythm

to your heart that accompanies your being –

that being being the music of their being.

J.T. Whitehead earned a law degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. He received a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Purdue, where he studied Existentialism, social and political philosophy, and Eastern Philosophy. He spent time between, during, and after schools on a grounds crew, as a pub cook, a writing tutor, a teacher’s assistant, a delivery man, a book shop clerk, and a liquor store clerk, inspiring four years as a labor lawyer on the workers’ side.

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