This is a photograph of a Marsh Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus Curtipennis) which is also known as the Slant-faced Grasshopper, as seen in the head and slant of the large eye. They inhabit a variety of environments. These include tall stands of grass in open fields, roadsides, mountain meadows, and on the banks of ponds, lakes, and marshes. Interestingly, the list of dietary laws in the book of Leviticus forbids eating all flying insects that walk, but makes an exception for certain insects. The Torah states the only kosher flying insects are those with four walking legs and have knees that extend above their feet so that they hop. By the way, I am not Jewish, and have never eaten one.

In the countryside, at a picnic in the park, or in the fields, you can hear the piercing song of grasshoppers and crickets. As you walk by them, they will jump erratically around you. Grasshoppers and crickets make a singing sound that is very similar, but grasshoppers are active during the day, when you can hear them singing and see them. Crickets hide in the ground during the day and come out at dusk, as they are nocturnal insects. Crickets rub their forewings together to create their sound, while grasshoppers rub their hind legs to their forewings. Just thought that was interesting.

This poem is a 12 Line Exhortation.
A 12 Line Exhortation is a format this author created. I researched poetry types with 12 Lines to see what they are called. I found a group of poems called 12 Lines. But they are basically unstructured. I wanted some specific structure. I wanted a poem with 3 consecutive lines of rhyme, that played off 8/4/2 syllable counts and was positive in spirit. So I created this format and called it a 12 Line Exhortation. Here are the rules. A 12 Line Exhortation is a poem with 12 lines, starting and ending with a 2 syllable line that caries an exhortation, like; Get up!, Move on! Go jump! The whole syllable structure is;
2/8/8/8/4/4/8/8/8/4/4/2.
There is also a fixed rhyme scheme of:
AbbbaacccddA, where the capital letters are repeated lines.

This photograph was taken by the author himself on August 30, 2015 at Lake Elmo Park Preserve, where I was camping.

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