Toad Wisdom Tuesday: Whimsical Poetry for All

Margo Rody Tuesday Tryouts suggested: Find a poem that gives a piece of, or one side of, a story. Your task is to write a poem that gives us another side, or piece of the story. It’s a type of response poem. I wrote in response to a poem that has come up more than once in my writing group: Toad By Valerie Worth. Her poem is first mine fallows. Unfortunately today WordPress will not behave duplicate the line breaks or spacing I originally set down. Hope it works for you Oh, Trickster Toad!

Toad

When the flowers

Turned clever, and

Earned wide

Tender red petals

for themselves,

When the Birds

Learned about feathers,

Spread green tails,

Grew cockades

On their heads,

The toad said:

Some has got

To remember

The mud, and

I am not proud.

by Valerie Worth

 

My Answer to Toad 

Toad, oh you trickster!

watching from the puddle

the pond

the sweet water of the spring

you see all you know all:

How we fool ourselves

with grand palaces

architectures of wisdom

and philosophy.

Tender red petals

frothy green tail feathers

we put on and take off.

You know our

bone

our skin

our pride

are all made from

mud and much laughter.

Your humble author Carol Carlisle 10/22/13