Pseudacris cadaverina
Sunset tints Rodeo Lagoon
pink and orange, sedges and rushes
rising like exclamation points,
Pacific shimmering in the distance.
I listen for mating calls of chorus frogs,
but not a single “rib-bit” penetrates
the dimness: the frogs are hiding
in burrows made by birds or rodents.
They’ll be back after rain, I’m told.
Researchers have found them
even in a pond by the airport,
singing for mates as planes take off.
Here, they need only compete
with the roar and churn of surf
and chant their raspy pickup line
as they’ve done since the Pleistocene.
—
Lucille Lang Day is the award-winning author or editor of 20 books, including four poetry chapbooks and seven full-length collections, most recently Birds of San Pancho and Other Poems of Place (Blue Light). The founder and publisher of Scarlet Tanager Books, she received her B.A. in biological sciences, M.A. in zoology, and Ph.D. in science/mathematics education from UC Berkeley, and her M.A. in English and MFA in creative writing from SF State University. lucillelangday.com
