The i is a Cricket

The book is open.
Can you hear
and see
the cricket?
Listen.
It sounds as if
someone is rubbing
the bristles
of two combs together.
Look closer.
Legs are struggling
like an upside down fly,
like a blinking eyelash.
Touch it.
And you will feel
its tiny hairs.
There is a letter
on the page
that has bent legs.
Before you close
the book
let it leap off the paper.

Orlando White
“The i is a Cricket” first appeared in 26 Magazine, Issue C, 2004.