unholy earth, dark with stein
unformed loam at birth;
a worded child of mud,
fingernail skinned blacklack eyes
peek out of a ball of wet slam,
a groundling that waves like a black branch
across the sleeping fields,
see a shadow under the cold grass,
near in sight under a crust of frost
Calaveras' famous frog was astounding
In contests never beaten at bounding
But a gambler's ruse
In the frog did infuse
Lead shot that kept him a groundling
The con artist disappeared south
Froggy's owner poured shot from its mouth
His face fiery red
He examined the lead
That had made his wallet a drouth
Five to six feet tall,
roughly the same size
as your average poet,
but incapable of flight.
His wings but one-tenth
of his total height;
in short, a groundling
in a bird’s disguise.