FROGS
The autumn is coming
soon, that chill like you feel
in a cave stretching down deep
beneath a hill grabs at the air, both
early morning and at the end of the day.
I brought in the patio furniture
and the 2 ceramic frogs
from the garden,
tried to catch the 2 goldfish remaining
in my wife”s ornamental pond,
but couldn”t get the black one.
(Why is a black fish a gold fish, I wonder.)
Didn”t catch the 2 real frogs
swimming around in there either.
I”ll wait another week, see if they”re
still there, also try again to catch
the black goldfish, he”ll be fine until then.
I”ll drain the pond if I have to,
bring him inside before it gets too cold.
And that will be it until next year, in
the spring when the cycle starts all over again ““
put the furniture and the ceramic frogs
back into the garden and wait
for the real frogs to make their way
back up from the stream.
The frogs bring the spring with them
when they come and take the summer
with them when they go, like modern nature gods
controlling nature and the cycle of life.
***