Frog On The Boil

The frog, they say, untiring in its pond
Sneers at the ocean and jumps off gilt thrones 
For the mire of home. Only its poor fond 
Mother deems it beautiful, this mottled 
Tormentor of fallen elephants. 

Heat the water slowly, and the guzzling 
Creature floats on until it bursts. The frog, 
The benighted frog. The nifty barbed things 
They wished to call you, they just frog-quipped; 
So you laughed with them in self-defence. 

You laughed, and felt the small blood-sucking worm
Squiggling inside, feasting on pride and shame
Ground to one bane, sinking the abyss-germ
Deeper; laughed, while the unsatiated 
Worm whittled itself a sharper stake.

Hibah Shabkhez

Hibah Shabkhez is a writer of the half-yo literary tradition, an erratic language-learning enthusiast, and a happily eccentric blogger from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in Plainsongs, Microverses, Sylvia Magazine, Better Than Starbucks, Post, Wine Cellar Press, and a number of other literary magazines. Studying life, languages, and literature from a comparative perspective across linguistic and cultural boundaries holds a particular fascination for her. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/HibahShabkhez