Best Amphibian Poems
Being the infant
that you were,
there you sat;
hunched knees
and settle butt looking
with piercing eyes
reflecting stand-off thoughts
as you huffed and puffed.
Like a water pump
pumping out,
your lungs pumped in
balancing the nature of life.
In your emerald grey
and black polka-dotted sheen
your thinking eyes
momentarily pondered
my raised foot;
you flashed a broad smile
and suddenly hopped away...
leaving me innocent
of a crime of ignorance
of nature:
Later in the night
your croaking echoes flowed
into the empty vase of my ears.
You don’t have to pitch a tent
Nor build a house to stay
When thousands of us wander desperate
Without a home or place to rest,
You own a house with a magic door,
That opens at will without a key or latch.
Well protected from all wicked wight
Safe from all robbers, rowdies, and rodents
No evil spirits, vampires, or ghouls
Dare to disturb it at any rate
It is stronger than all structures extant
Built-in mortar, bricks, or rocks
You are the monarch of a larger empire.
Land and water are under your sway,
Free to enjoy the treasures of the sea,
And feast on the wonders of the land.
You are a companion to the ravenous shark,
Darting spectres through the azure dark
And also monsters that roam the deep
With their uncouth gambols and abrupt leap
You love strolling along the slimy strands
And dive down along with the laughing waves
You bury your eggs on the sandy shores
And guard your progeny from all snares
You are another name for alertness and caution
You make sure that all around is safe and secure,
Before you come out from your rocky shelter
And shrink back at once when dangers lurk
You carry on your back your home and shelter
Built so compact to guard you from all external threat
Oh! Turtle, we deem you blessed under your carapace
But perhaps you may have a different tale to narrate
For all that we see or seem to see
Aren’t they truths far removed from the truth?
Cool comforts from the moon shining in Spring
diverge from coming Summer's scorching sun.
Sweet honeysuckle lifts its trumpet string
to set swift tempo for the Springtime fun.
The peonies follow in their due time,
shout scented secrets to boisterous birds.
Hornets send buzzing timbre to sublime,
heights of rowdy rhythm in unspoken words.
Loud melodies of frogs bide time with drums
in gurgling creek beds or towering trees.
The bursting bomb of bleeding redbuds comes
to speckle color through sonorous breeze.
Spring buzzes, bleeds, gurgles, or bursts out loud
through its short months, the frenzied, shouting crowd.
I ride on Ryley Rhino
as down the river we go.
He knows things I want to know.
I said, “There’s a flashy fish!
Watch it swirl and swish!”
Ryley Rhino said, “I know.”
I said, “There’s a crocodile!
Look at its smug smile.”
Ryley Rhino said, “I know.”
I said, “There’s a sneaky snake!
I wonder if its name is Jake.”
Ryley Rhino said, “I know.”
"Ryley Rhino you're so smart,
I love you with all my heart!”
Ryley Rhino said, “I know.”
Though I'm ugly and I'm old,
And I'm fat and I'm bald,
And I'm grey and I'm cold;
I've still a story to be told …
I've never been a handsome prince
As far as I can tell;
Unless I lost my memory
During a witch’s evil spell!
I started my spawned life in a pond,
In that valley, there beyond,
I haven't always been a 'toad-in-the-hole',
I was once, a cute tadpole,
Hmmmn … those were the days.
I'm a source of fear for superstitious folk
The hapless butt of many a joke,
I'm not endearing, or the least bit cute,
With all the charm of a hob-nail-boot.
I’m not a worshiper of the sun,
My warty skin preferring it dank,
So I make my home in a shaded hole,
In a man-made stone hedge, or a bank.
You might think that I'm between
A rock and a hard place,
That I've got my back to the wall,
But it's me that's never worked,
Paid tax or had a mortgage,
And never had to go to school!
voices rise in zest
after a slumber party ~
moonlight serenade
My mind foggy with too much stress,
I chose to saunter along and imagine
pastoral scenes that I had seen.
I dreamed of fields and meadows
all in green, painted with the colors
of the multi-hued perennial Spring.
As I walked, I felt my mind easing into
a comfortable stride with me.
We passed a calming stream
with fish and frogs and dragonflies.
Each bird sang its soliloquy
and I had only tranquil happiness,
peaceful rhythms, and floating
clouds that billowed and shape-shifted with the wind,
so grateful that I had found the clearing.
the Fiddler played and sang a tune
all the while the sun became moon
Sir Frog was dancing
and sometimes prancing
but then the music died too soon
“Fiddler,” cried Frog, “why do you stop?
I’m still in mindful mood to hop!”
Fiddler said, “Sir Frog,
bring me honey grog
and I’ll play the night till you drop!”
Our forefathers were sailors
they were travelers and warriors
the amphibians of the archipelago.
The sea was their playground
they swung their Krises blades
the enemies cannot missed.
They love peace
and they live by peace
they fought to defend faith.
I love you peace. Let's sail together. Layag Sug!
SaniH, Putra Road
2:11PM.300415.
surfacing in spring
a spotted salamander ~
subtle seducer
Options Underwater: The Song of the First Amphibian
by Michael R. Burch
“Evolution’s a Fishy Business!”
1.
Breathing underwater through antiquated gills,
I’m running out of options. I need to find fresh Air,
to seek some higher Purpose. No porpoise, I despair
to swim among anemones’ pink frills.
2.
My fins will make fine flippers, if only I can walk,
a little out of kilter, safe to the nearest rock’s
sweet, unmolested shelter. Each eye must grow a stalk,
to take in this green land on which it gawks.
3.
No predators have made it here, so I need not adapt.
Sun-sluggish, full, lethargic?I’ll take such nice long naps!
The highest form of life, that’s me! (Quite apt
to lie here chortling, calling fishes saps.)
4.
I woke to find life teeming all around?
mammals, insects, reptiles, loathsome birds.
And now I cringe at every sight and sound.
The water’s looking good! I look Absurd.
5.
The moral of my story’s this: don’t leap
wherever grass is greener. Backwards creep.
And never burn your bridges, till you’re sure
leapfrogging friends secures your Sinecure.
Originally published by Lighten Up Online
Keywords/Tags: amphibian, amphibians, evolution, gills, water, air, lungs, fins, flippers, fish, fishy business, bird, birds, nature, natural disaster, natural disasters, environment
Coal, oil, and fossils were not always here.
Neither were fish or land plants my little dear.
They preceded Mesozoic,
And were clearly Paleozoic.
Do you want to know more? Please come sit right here.
I am an amphibian
Living in and out of my own truth
With you one day,
Totally against you the next.
Personalities swirling inside
Staring into a mirror wondering
Will we like me today?
Will we be kind to this face?
Will we have positive self-talk?
Will we be able to salvage any kind of love for self?
You look old, I think. Not a good start.
Is that a skin tag?
Dhram!
Worse start now.
What about trying to like ourselves today?
One of my personalities begins to whine.
I hate whiners.
Are we even going to try? Another personality inquires.
I turn away from the mirror, but not before thinking I look old.
My hands are old too.
Grandma hands.
Spotted. Freckled more than my face ever was.
A face I used to like.
Come on! One of my selves pleads.
Let's be our prancy, dancy self today.
Shall I call in sick? To play in my art studio?
To write my poetry? To salvage my joyful side?
I look back into the mirror. I look younger. I see my twelve.
I am excited now. The possibility of having a mental health day.
My muse is twirling and swirling, dancing.
Amphibian me laughs, as we reach for the phone.
I love it when my bliss comes out to play.
peculiar frog
on a rock-
reptilian gargoyle
angry wind
sweeps across land-
stumbling bird
Oh, the vexing amphibian -
from the Nile or Caribbean.
Is it a toad or a frog,
a tadpole or polliwog,
a newt or salamander,
crocodile, alligander?
Oh, the vexing amphibian -
from the Nile or Caribbean.