FOUR FROGS
For the past half century, I have never seen
A single frog in this city, not even in the whole country
But there are four big-mouthed frogs leaping around
Afar in a ricefield of my native village, four frogs
Squatting under the rotten bridge on the way leading
To an unknown town, four frogs playing on a big
Lotus leaf in my heart, four frogs calling constantly
From the dark pages of history invisible at midnight
Four frogs meditating under a puti tree transplanted
In a nature park, four frogs swimming into a fish net
Like bloated tadpoles, the same four frogs whose
Monotoned songs resonate aloud in different tongues
With different pitches, yes, the four frogs still there
Author’s Bio
Yuan Changming, eight-time Pushcart nominee and author of five chapbooks, is the world’s most widely published poetry author who speaks Mandarin but writes in English. With a PhD in English, Changming currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver and has poetry appearing in 1059 literary publications across thirty-six countries, including Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Threepenny Review and Vallum.