The Friday Poem on 14/04/23
We chose ‘frog’ by Laura Theis to be our Friday Poem this week because we know, as soon as we are introduced to the medium size poodle cross, that we are in the hands of an interesting poet. Precise language, the contrast between cherry blossom and dog poo, and the way the poet breaks the fourth wall, all serve to make us smile. But the poem swerves us swiftly from funny to serious, from the sublime to the stinking. Theis handles these shifts in tone beautifully, with deftness and a light touch. It’s a poem with a message, delivered with style and panache.
frog
you are walking down the road
at night
out alone with
only a medium size poodle cross for protection
you’re holding a filched branch of spring
blossoms in one hand
a bag with dog poo in the other
just wondering if there might be a poem in this
(the sweet blooming cherry
to bring a little of the scent of the season inside
offset by the stench of the dog shit
that is poking out of its half-torn little bag)
when you encounter the frog –
it springs suddenly from a dark corner
into your path and waits there
stares up at you with its uncanny eyes
and you start crying because
it is pure chance that this frog is a simple frog
that this frog is not a man with a knife to your throat
that you have to live in a world where
every night in another dark
corner of your sublime, stinking planet
another woman like you
was not quite as lucky
