Description

Broadside of Stridulation Sonnet by Jessica Jacobs.

Tiger beetles, crickets, velvet ants, all
know the useful friction of part on part,
how a rub of wing to leg, plectrum to file,
marks territories, summons mates. How

a lip rasped over finely tinned ridges can
play sweet as a needle on vinyl. But
sometimes a lone body is not enough.
So a sapsucker drums the chimney flash

for our amped-up morning reveille. Or,
later, home again, the wind’s papery
come hither through the locust leaves. The roof
arcing its tin back to meet the rain.

The bed’s soft creak as I roll to my side.
What sounds will your body make against mine?