Katydids

by Benjamin Oldham


I learned today that katydids are not the same as crickets

Who sing at night the chorus rising from the grassy thickets


It made me sad to think that I had never known the name

To give the credit that was due, and I to blame


For when the silence in my mind I could not bear

The beating service of the katydids was there


And only in the summer storms, when rain and wind were strong

Did they cease to sing their endless song;


With silent minds like me they listened to the words

And together we did share the service that we heard


A language came between us, a name we did not share

But in our silence credit was attributed in prayer.