Croak Poem by Justin Reamer

‘Amphibians live in complete duality;
Born in water, they develop there,
Coming to the land only when fully matured.’
The words of my zoology professor ring in my ears,
Amplified screeching like nails scratching glass as
The classifications ascribed by science dismantle
Nature’s essence into overwhelming nonsense until
The sound of simplicity interrupts the chaos: croak.

Sitting in the window well are two frogs,
Trapped by the floodwaters of the previous rainfall.
Attaching themselves to the window screen,
They grapple the mountain with their toes,
Adrenaline, their willpower, strengthening them like
Soldiers traversing the Bay of Normandy on D-Day,
Their survival instincts their only method of success.
Reaching the top, they fall again into the pit,
Only to get up again and to continue climbing,
Their determination burning brightly until death.

Demonstrating courage and bravery with
A flaming passion like Hercules slaying the Hydra,
The frogs transcend science’s expectation with
Attributes we consider only humans to possess.
Qualities of heroism anthropomorphise these frogs,
Proving Nature defies all human taxonomy
With the utterance of a single croak.