Haiku Classic 5

What kind of frog are you?

by Dhugal J. Lindsay

       the web between stumps—

       a tree frog answers

       the pond frog

                Michael Dylan Welch (1962– )

                From “Thornewood Poems,” Haiku Canada Sheet, Napanee, Ontario: Haiku Canada, 1998.

Different species of frogs often live in different habitats, so when we hear “tree frog” and “pond frog” our first thought is that they are different species. However, only males call, while the female hones in on the male they feel sounds the strongest. Usually frogs ignore the calls of other frogs that belong to a different species. Arguably the tree frog could be a female and its “answer” is moving toward the male but it is much more likely that the poet heard two frog calls in succession from different areas around the pond. This would therefore have been two males and their calls would be part of a chorus call where each frog calls in turn, thereby making sure all voices are heard. So the labels “tree frog” and “pond frog” are just identifiers as to where the frog was at the time of the call, rather than referring to a different kind of frog. Humans also often give themselves and others different labels to make themselves seem different and more attractive or to discriminate against others. But like these frogs, just how different are they? Pots calling the kettle black? The first line concretely describes a spider web spread in the space between two tree stumps. It resonates with the rest of the poem because of the way a vibration at one end of the web will travel to the other end. I recall the phrases “a web of intrigue” or a “web of deceit” as well as imagining would-be lovers finding each other on the web. The word “stumps” gives a somewhat menacing warning in one’s psyche as the poem is digested.