Bufo the true toad:
"This coming weekend, Rana, are you free?
Would you like to come and visit me?
You are certainly very much welcome
to be my guest, in my humble little home.
I'll bring you around the tall Giant Lily
towering above, swaying ever so gently.
We can also meet the other villagers
living by the stream of Healing Waters."
Rana the true frog:
"Thanks, Bufo, that's really really good.
I'd like to visit your part o' the woods,
to see what life is like among your clan,
and learn about toads as much as I can."
Bufo:
"Looking forward to your visit this weekend!
Just give me a couple o' croaks, which true frogs send,
through your True Croak channel, if you may,
when you're about a hundred frog leaps away."
Story-teller:
Some true frogs and true toads, by the way,
have the power of True Croak, they say.
They can channel their croaks over long distances,
talking to fellow clansmen in amphibian parlance.
However, this power of True Croak can only be
summoned and used on New Moon days, you see.
Both Rana frog and Bufo toad, coincidentally,
have this power, and it will be New Moon shortly.
That New Moon weekend arrived rather quickly.
Rana said good-bye to his Ranidae family,
and the army of frogs living by the river bank
where the old farmer's troubled boat once sank.
He hopped and leapt his way with reckless glee,
under the cool shade of many a jungle tree,
climbing over rocks with slimy moss,
fording shallow streams, to get across.
Sweet songs of many birds chirping everywhere,
fragrance of flowers fill the morning air,
with odour of old leaves rotting on the ground,
Rana was immersed in the sight and sound.
As he approached the village of true toads
a long way from the nearest man-made road,
among the boulders beneath the Giant Lily,
resides the ancient Bufonidae family.
"Croak-croak! Croak-croak! Croak-croak Crrooakk!"
Rana summoned the power of his True Croak
and channelled it towards Bufo the true toad,
who was home, brushing warts on his overcoat.
"Croaky Croaky Croaky Croakk!"
through the True Croak channel Bufo croaked,
telling Rana loudly that he will be waiting,
by the old village gate will he be squatting.
"Rana! Rana! This way! Over here!"
shouted Bufo, when he saw Rana appear
in the distance, approaching by and by,
"Hey Bufo! Good to see you." was Rana's glad reply.
to be continued . . .
"Rana visits Bufo, Part One"
by Harolde Huang,
Sun 2021.05.16 15:22 hrs GMT+8
#poetry #poetrybyharolde
