TOADS

You ought to admire the toads’ vitality.

In a stream or a sewer

they can live, often wild with joy.

In the early spring they croak with gusto,

giving you the illusion that large flocks

of ducks and geese are paddling nearby.

Look, they leap around

like little birds attempting flight,

though they have no wings.

Neither do they have a waist,

but they all swagger when they walk.

If they sit, they look like ministatues

of Buddha, too dignified to rise.

In fact, they can never stand up.