The Noetic Frog
by
Noetica Ponds, and the frog I sing, who, forc’d to fame By poet Bashō’s celebrated name, Was since evoked a myriad times or more— Ever silent, never left on shore, By poetasters made to take the plunge, To bear without a croak the noisome scunge And strangely noisy swill of stagnant pools (All for delight of Buddhist-Baptist fools Who misconstrue the figure and the ground). Ah, made to hear that Zen-like water’s sound! What would the frog say, though, if given choice? Amphibious apophthegms? No, just voice Its tranquil transcendental unconcern: “It could be worse—could be a Greasy Urn.” This poem was posted on 11 October 2007 as a comment on Steve Dodson’s “The Poetic Frog” post on his Language Hat blog. The poem had no title, but a subsequent post by the author (identified only as Noetica) referred to the poem as the “noetic” frog, so that’s what I’m calling this poem. |