Kiss That Frog

Hi.

You can trust me.

I'm just a dinky froggy on a flower.

I'm green as a banker's front lawn.

Cute as a bug.

Sweet as a pond in the morning in May.

You aren't French, are you?

Frere Jacques, frere Jacques , dormez-vous?

Um...

Alouette, gentille alouette

je te plumerais?

Non?

Good.

Look at my feet.

Look at them! Orange!

I've got eyes bigger than my brain.

Bigger than my body!

Are the stars out tonight?

I don't know if it's cloudy or bright...

Gee, I like you.

Pick me up!

Hey...

want to know a secret?

I'm really a handsome prince.

Pucker up, buttercup!

MMMMMMMmwah! Mwah!

Mw--

Um...

why are you not kissing me?

What do you mean you ran a background check?

What do you mean you searched ManHater.com?

It said what????

No, that's a mistake. 

That's not me.

That's my....cousin.

Honest!

Hey, don't go, we just---

Ah well.

Oh, looky here, who's this?

Pretty Woman, walking down the street...

Hi.

_______

for Margaret's "Let's Join The Children" goose at Toads.

the artwork is by a 10 year old 4th grader, and it is completely adorable.

 

 

Diner

There is a diner where the waitress lets down her hair,
despite Health Department directives,
or fevered men with their angry wives.

Each table has a miniature juke box
with songs on a flip wheel, 25 cents a number.
"Mister Sandman." "Brandy." "Spirit In The Sky."

You can order eggs, but the cook is loathe to break them.
He says he is haunted by the birds,
silent and accusing about their unlived lives.

At night, after closing, the cook and waitress go home together,
and take menus with them to remind themselves that everything has cost.
In her dreams, the waitress has an operatic voice, and can fly. 

There is a clock in the diner, advertising a particular soft drink.
At exactly noon, the waitress stuffs napkins into a dispenser
until it is full to bursting. She hates a mess, that's why.

Come to the diner. Take the bus, avoid the downtown rush.
Bring a good appetite and order pancakes
warm and brown as the waitress's eyes.
_______

Noon

At noon, I licked sweet white frosting from my fingertip,
having already forgotten the little grease burn, 
from earlier, on my palm.

Later on,  I will find you sitting at the glass-topped table outside,
in your favorite teak wood chair with the green cushions.
I will run the same finger through your familiar curls,

under a half-stirred sky of light and shadow.