doesn’t even have a name
no shoes, no clothes, no house
sleeps where he can, where he wants i suppose,
never seen him eat
always alone when i'm around,
just a big green frog, another one.
the leader. Herb was the first one;
that was some years ago.
he’d call HERRRRB; we would too.
that’s how he got his name.
we learned our frog ways with him.
don’t know exactly what he picked up from us.
every year there’s always a king pin,
the boss of the pond - stays for two years or so.
then a new big one comes in and the old one is gone.
New takes up in a favorite spot, to his liking.
a few we gave the sobriquet to honor the orginal Herb.
now they're nameless.
call him the big frog.
we know who we mean.
it’s a full house this year
five frogs in the pond
and sure we can tell ‘em apart
we’re not frog stupid
different sizes, different colors
the thing on the ear, where they sit,
a lot of indicators as to who’s aboard.
and yes, they do keep an order.
today i had the camera ready to film him
first pushed the motorless mower around
to get him warmed up for talking
works every time. i don’t know why.
He spoke up and i egged him on with my frog word or two.
then got right down in front of him,
two feet away, camera rolling
and he swelled up like a balloon.
was the star of the neighborhood, no doubt.
major frog noise coming out of him.
i was proud of the frog;
that’s our number one.
transferred the pics to computer
all stills and only one video.
it was the short vid before he got going,
nothing of the great talking scene was captured. nothing.
but i was there and he was to. and we had a time of it.
now these words will remember;
how happy he and i were;
why - he done us proud, his day in the sun.
