It is time now, dearly beloved,
to remember the tadpoles,
the hundreds, the thousands
of pint-sized frogs
who will never grow up,
who will never lift their lusty voices
in the night. We are here now
to remember the lives lost,
so many lives lost
in this last week of May,
the last week of so many Mays
when the puddled water
which has fed and clothed
and nourished their young bodies
is drained, when the cover comes off
and the poisoned pool is made ready
for another season. Dearly beloved,
it is time now to remember.