Oh, to be a toad/elegy to my cat

Jesse Peterman

Oh, to be riverbed royalty, Living in a palace of reeds and clay

Oh, to be the lord of wetlands, Who sits secret and silent till end of day

Oh, to be lilypad cavalry, instead of pad-footed mount Ally of currents and deep water

Oh, to be unperturbed oracle, How they care not, colder or hotter

Oh, to be sunset herald, Bearer of the first, and loudest night-song

Oh, to be bane of insects, With eyes so quick and tongue so long

Oh, to be still in wait, instead of curious fool

Patient in viewing a single landscape

Oh, to be happy in opulent home, Why would that muddy monolith covet doors left agape

Oh, to be that warted wonder, Domain spanning far and wide, high and low

Oh, to be that wretched creature, Whose beauty so few know

Oh, to be solitary monarch, instead of doted pet Anonymous lifetime, and wild born Oh, to be a feral courtesan, When finality visits, no family found to mourn

Oh, to be camouflage king, Invisible, donned in well-patterned royal cloak

Oh, to be that blessed voice

What makes such sacred music, that booming, rolling croak

Oh, to be a toad, instead of nine-lived self

Wise enough to avoid those hurried lanes, violent wheels

Oh, to be round with caution, not flat like hubris Where no tires tread, no life careless car steals