Frog Literature
Here's where there will be Poems, fables, and stories about frogs! Please send in your works. I have already submitted my own little poem here :)
She creeps slowly through the trees.
Each limb considered carefully.
Her smooth skin blends into the leaves,
As she climbs oh, so stealthily.
Her red eyes glow with the genial sun.
Her fingers grasp the hollow bark.
The cool of the forest is a perfect sensation.
She fears not the trees, so hard and dark.
Frog
Fogging the window, as I often do
I await the storm to bid adieu
Summer grass, cottage gardens grow tall
But every minute is closer to fall
I often wait, and sit impatiently inside,
But for fear of losing time, this time I cannot hide
Dropping my books, that entertained me so,
I scatter the cookie crumbs, from my lap, like snow
Winding down the stairs,
Endless, endless stairs
The draperies now calmer, and the sunlight again
showing the dust
No longer swirling, but collecting like rust
So fast I run, once free of the door,
Straight to the place I have come before
"It might come back" my mother's voice followed me..
she feared the lightening and thunder at Falling Tree
It echo's behind me, as I have heard before,
But time is wasting, we leave tomorrow at four
Squawking birds, chattering squirrels, turtles snap
Just some of whom who had awoken from a nap
Flickering sun, birds, fish, otters and mice
All thawed from the sun, as if the rain were ice
The damp sandy path that leads to the lake,
The greedy weeds have already attempted to take
One more day, to swim at this lake..one more day…..
Swimming deep and collecting rocks from the clay
The dock sways, lifts and tilts, to me it is like the rungs of a ladder,
"Slippery wood" is an excuse for the strike out batter
Reaching the end, the place where I dive,
I step on a frog, but it is still alive
The sky again darkened, a grumble far away
"I am sorry froggy, but you cannot stay"
I pushed him with my foot just a bit
He didn't move, he continued to sit
Maybe he is dead? I thought to myself
Another exhibit to put on my shelf?
I catch memories, I keep them all in my room,
The worm, the butterfly, the bug from the broom
He is not dead, he looks at me,
His eyes shed the eyelids off and on for me
He is blinking, or winking, I am not sure which,
One does one, then they will switch
I push him again, this time with my hand,
He falls in the lake as if to now understand
He swims so graceful, paddling feet so calm
The swims to jump, to the dock them my palm
"Why are you back, little frog so twitchy and cold?"
"Why are you with the one who hurt you….to hold??
His jump was strong, so he was not hurt a lick
He was still breathing, and slimy and slick
So I put him down, to the side corner, upon the highest beam
I turned him away, his gaze not seen
Ready to dive, I count …one…two…three…
Just as frog bellowed a groan, towards me
"Leave me alone frog!!..Just go away!!"
"You and your friends, just for the day!!"
He sat perched, higher than before,
Chest extended, not breathing like before
"You have this place all year to yourself"
"Leave me alone, or you will be on my shelf!!"
Ready to dive again, without having to count,
I return to the edge that the nails barely mount
He croaks loudly, then puffs up, like a turkey in November
Then this is the strangest part, I can remember.
The birds, the squirrels, the otter, the fish
They became quiet now, just as my wish
The sun, became warmer, I needed to swim
But I looked up, instead, on a whim
The most beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky
I looked at the frog, now beginning to die
His body collapsed, almost saggy to touch
"This was the mean frog I hated so much?"
He still looked, up at me, but he didn't really see me as kind,
And he didn't see at all, for now I can tell he is blind
His eyes were black, with a whitish purple haze,
His twitches became tame, now a cruel sun-burned daze
The eyes still lingering on the rainbow of colors and hue
Looking at something yet he doesn't have a clue
He looked down sadly, eyes still transfixed,
I followed the rainbow trail where it's end and water mixed
The water was cloudy, but I could still see
The edges of bark, branches and tree
Stepping back, slipping on greening wood,
Regaining my footing as fast as I could
Blind frog then, made his last jump from there
Into the cool water, that I didn't want to share
He floated, then sunk, deep to the clay
I wanted to get him, yet wanted to stay
Then the birds, the otters, the fish and more frogs
Shuffled about in treetops, leaves, or floating logs
The rainbow gone now, the sun at it's peak
Frogs resting place is now tadpoles that streak
They grouped together, then further away
Each looking for somewhere safely to stay
I look at the tree, under the place where I dive,
And wonder if without frog I would still be alive
Closer to God, I thought I was but not so,
Not as close as the little frog, I nudged with my toe.
Dedicated to Noor….he is my frog
Susan Quayle, July 27, 2000