.
The chorus is in chaos.
I lie awake and listen
to the frogs
across the wetlands –
their indiscreet cacophony,
their bald discordant din
of tuneless bass
and baritones,
and one quite well-intentioned
adolescent squork.
.
Then comes Gaia
dressed as Maestro
waving her baton
in phosphorescent
ups and downs
until the chorus
is entranced
with “con amore”
in an ocean
of full moons.
And finally it’s adagio
adagio…
adagio…
that fades
to midnight indigo.
.
And then one last harumph
and off to sleep.
.
© 2017 Betty Hayes Albright
.
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Quite lovely, Betty
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Thank you, Martin. 🙂
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This is a passion song to what the earth has been, Betty. It is absolutely wonderful. The second stanza is so magic I can feel the light of the spring’s moon on my skin, filling my eyes, as the frogs and Gaia bring alive what life should be about.
Unfortunately, around here the spring peepers are not as operatic as they used to be. There is just not as powerful a chorus as we used to here when we were younger. I suspect this masterpiece will be around a long time, reminding the denizens of humankind what once was.
In the poems glory I feel the sadness of remembering.
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Thomas, I’m glad you liked this one. We live near an abandoned train track which runs through wetland and it was a pleasant surprise to hear the frogs from over the fence. Now I’ve not heard them in a couple of weeks so that worries me. We have a lot of different birds here than we had in the Seattle area, plus a pair of hawks. Yesterday I saw a blue jay eating a chickadee which shocked me somewhat. But that’s nature. I only wish humans weren’t choking out their habitats. Like you, it makes me sad…
Thank you again for your kind words.
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Thomas, a P.S. to this thread. After a beautiful spring day yesterday the frogs gave a magnificent concert last night. (I’d been worried after not hearing them recently, but they’re still there in full force. Gives us hope!)
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I have a friend who lives in the heart of the city…she was missing night sounds of the frogs….so…with little effort on my part given the volume and number of frogs near by…I made a cd of the frogs…she loves it…ah but she can turn them off anytime she wants to…unlike us. 🙂
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What a great gift – frogs on CD! No doubt your friend is enjoying. (I hear parts of CA are getting lots of rain this spring. Hope that means the drought is over where you are… The frogs must be enjoying. 🙂
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No frogs to hear from my bedroom but a marvellous concert put on by all kinds of birds to brighten a Spring dawn.
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That’s even better. 🙂 Nothing but a concert of evening lawnmowers here at the moment. (I hear the cries of a million dandelions.)
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Electric lawnmowers. Not my favourite kind of music, I’m afraid.
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Nor mine… Along with the edgers, pressure washers, etc… And in fall the leaf blowers. Gotta control nature though.
Oh, happy Earth Day! (I write this as t continues to put climate change on the back burner and undo many of our environmental protection measures.) (Sigh…..)
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You probably haven’t heard of this:
http://noiseabatementsociety.com/about-us/who-we-are/
As for climate change how about this “alternative fact”. The Donald is openly in bed with all the big polluting corporations. With the temperature of the planet rising the Antarctic is becoming for major exploitation and more. The more the merrier. (At least for the mighty few. 😦 )
Suggesting folk entertain such considerations you can probably see why I am not too sure I’d be admitted to the U S of A.
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thanks for the link – I’ll check it out. As for the other, I think many of us here have our suspicions about that, and other things. And fortunately we’re still free to openly bring up these topics. Do you get any of our late night talk shows there, like Stephen Colbert?
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I’ve seen the odd bit but there’s simply too much material to view/hear never mind digest it. And then there folk who view this kind of “soft” rebellion is allowed because it lets some of the steam out of the dissent before it turns into something that endangers “Them”. But then me: what do *I* know?
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What do any of us know… Brave New World, here we come? My hope is that humanity will evolve before it’s too late. We first must reach critical mass. Not giving up, but nothing is assured.
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FROGSPAWN
How strange then
That we arrived here
Observing a frog opera
But then again being poets
Deeply steeped in metaphor
Perhaps it’s not so strange
We also nought but frogs
In a larger scale opera
Where all we need do
Is take care to hit
Each note on target
At the moment required
~~~~~~~
http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Spring/Frogspawn.aspx?age=ks2
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I like it when a conversation digresses and then spirals ’round back to its beginning but at a higher level, as in your poem. And I so agree with it! 🙂
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Just checked link, thank you again. They’ve had similar efforts here but probably not as organized. It seems there are few who care about noise pollution. And those who do care can’t do much about it. Laws can be made, but they’re seldom enforced.
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Creating laws just creates criminals. Self-government works best but requires a degree of mental/emotional/spiritual development that is too often absent. Where both family and education fail we all suffer the consequences. 😦
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This is where we need to evolve. Without an innate sense of responsibility and compassion and empathy, laws are needed. The amoral among us have no other compass.
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Lost their link to the Lodestar. 🙂
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Really like this Betty. About a year ago now I lived in a place that was right next to a green area that was absolutely full of frog song. I kind of miss that now.
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Thank you, Renee. We’ve just been living in this neighborhood a few months and first time I’ve had the frogs so close. Am going to enjoy it. Something soothing about their variety of croaks and “ribbits”. 🙂
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So it would seem.
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Oh, this is terrific. And made me smile.
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Hi Cynthia – thank you!
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Lovely poem, Betty. ‘A Night at the Frogopera’ takes me back to the time I had a caravan at Talacre on the North Wales coast. The dunes provided a home for the rare Natterjack Toad (Buffo calamita), our noisiest amphibian, whose mating call on a late spring’s eve may be heard up to half a mile away. I shall never forget the raucous chorus from their breeding ponds, but eyes skinned, as mine were, for their distinctive yellow back-stripe, I sadly never did spot one.
Glad I’ve found your blog.
My very best,
Paul
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Paul, thank you for such a nice comment! Interesting to hear about the rare toad. How long ago did you live in Wales? I had a pen-pal who first lived in England (Lancastershire? Is that a place? It was in the early 60’s). She later married and moved to North Wales. We stayed in touch off and on until the early 90’s. Have always wondered how she is. Have always wanted to travel over there but am on the west coast of the US, so looooong ways away. Now at 70 our long-distance traveling days are over.
Thank you for the “follow”! I’m glad to have found your blog as well.
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Dear Betty,
It’s a bright sunny day here in Britain but sadly overshadowed by the shocking news of the terrorist atrocity at Manchester Arena last night, when following a pop concert a suicide bomber blew himself up, killing or injuring many innocent people, including children.
Our hearts go out to the victims’ devastated families and friends, but we are proud beyond measure not only of our wonderful emergency services for so promptly taking control of the situation but over the way ordinary members of the public responded too, selflessly pitching in to help in any way they could.
The Bulldog Spirit, so famously exhibited during the Blitz of World War II, is still very much alive today in our gloriously multi-cultural Britain and will always prevail. We will carry on as we always do. And I will now reply to your lovely comment exactly as intended…
Like your pen-pal, I too come from Lancashire in north-west England. More precisely, I was born and brought up near Bolton, once one of the biggest cotton spinning towns in the world. But I’ve rather lost my accent now, having lived the greater part of my life in Cheshire, latterly in a village overlooking the Weaver Valley. And my long career in social housing, helping the homeless and so on, was spent in Greater Manchester, including the city centre, not far from the Arena, where last night’s tragedy occurred.
As for my caravan at Talacre on the Point of Ayr in North Wales, I owned this from 2006 until 2010, when, much to my sorrow, financial circumstances compelled its sale.
Retired now, I’m back in Wales, living with my new partner Maureen in a small estuary town on Deeside, just half-an-hour’s run from Talacre. So maybe someday I will finally spot a Natterjack Toad!
My very best to you Stateside,
Paul
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Paul, we were so sorry to hear on the news (shortly after sending my comment yesterday) about the bomb explosion over there. It seems there are no safe places anymore. Nothing is sacred. These days I’m afraid of crowds. A good friend if mine since school days lost her husband last summer to a mall shooter. They were just out together for a fun evening of dinner and shopping and suddenly he was dead. She barely escaped with her life.
Anyway, I send my condolences to all of you. Even if you didn’t know anyone directly it still affects everyone.
Take care – wishing you both a peaceful evening. (It’s morning here – just getting started….)
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Thanks Betty, very sorry to hear about your friend’s husband; his murder by a mall shooter was another truly appalling, deranged act.
Maureen and I had an out-of-doors chip supper yesterday evening, the estuary and ancient castle ruins tinged gold in the setting sun, the air still balmy, swifts and house martins zipping this way and that. It was delightful but with a strong undertow of sadness, of course, for those precious lives cut short by a terrorist in Manchester on Monday night. We will remember them always as we go about our business as usual, unbowed.
Take care,
Paul
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Paul, your supper sounded lovely. I can see why you’re a poet, with such appreciation for the beauty around you and your mindfulness to detail. And I can certainly understand that undertow of sadness. The more we hear about it all, the more shocking. Do take care!
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