Ode to a Toad

You were warty, but wise; my childhood friend

You glistened, and listened to my every woe

The summer I was eight years old

Uncertain as to where my life might go

Your golden eyes, and green-brown skin

Brought simple joys at the edge of a pond

In the cool of evenings and mossy rock

Your nose to my nose...and I...

Squeaky wet, battered red shoes with no socks

A child with new big teeth, and honey blond.

You trusted me with your life and I was honored

You taught me to fight, but not too hard.

You and I both fragile and alone,

I learned about life from a sage old frog

And in the end, uncertainty was conquered.