Songs From A Pond

In 'The Hammer of God', Chesterton wrote, "One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak." What odd things might one see, should one's eye be turned towards the tiny places of the world? Each year, I look again.

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Songs From A Pond


I:
Frog music - dampness, water, mist over all,
A dark and a froggy night cloaked in cloud;
Around me, my croaking companions call,
Bugles and trumpets, a sonorous crowd.
This all is our life, our skins, cold and wet;
Where food fills the air and water is fun,
Where ancient tales told us and tell us yet
That one among us may be a king's son.


II:
Wiggle wiggle surface tension
Chase my food and do not mention
Why it is that bug on feet
Can run on water for his meat!
It comes of runnin' fast 'n' light -
Happy skater-insect's right!
My God has made me water-free;
My God a skater too must be!


III:
My mummy dumped me in the water
Before I could learn how to fly
And I was her very good daughter
(In water it's quite hard to cry.)

Now I'm the fastest wing on the water,
Built like a bullet with eyes that can see
Further and finer than mum would've thought her
Daughter would ever have grown up to be!


IV:
Sharp teeth in deep mouth, scales bright in green gold -
Noble my arming, lord of all slaughter;
Knight of the foodchain and prince of the pond -
Bright flash in sunset, death in the water.

Mine is your life - God made me to take it,
Made me with armour and jaw and dark skill;
While you may squirm as you try to escape,
Know yourself offered, a gift to His will.


V:
I am the pond. All life in me is mine,
My life in many forms, many lives;
Frog or fish, or many-legged thing,
I am the pond, and the pond survives.
All that is in me was meant to be thus,
Living and fighting, loving and sleeping;
I am the pond and all that is in me
Stays as it should be, safe in my keeping.