A lone frog is out this spring evening. He is ambitious with his loud croaks. Gus, our neighbor’s dog,
(why do I know the names of all my neighbors’ dogs, but not the humans?)
has decided to respond.
Alternating
croak,
bark,
croak,
bark.
The frog pauses. The dog stops. The frog croaks, Gus responds.
I am being serenaded by the most unlikely of duets.
Lauren M. Connolly lives and writes four hundred and sixty-five river miles from the Pacific Ocean, where frogs live along the river bank. She’s published poetry and nonfiction pieces in a variety of publications including the Expanded Field Journal and Mindfulness Bell. You can find @lmbconnolly on Bluesky.