The Frog Project

My friend Victor Kinza (www.victorkinza.com), a successful Russian-born artist, has painted a large number of frogs in all kinds of postures and asked me to write poems to correspond with his pictures. I have done this for one page - http://www.victorkinza.com/catolog/lubok/frogs/index.htm. This page contains references to frogs on that page, followed by my poems about them. This work is Copyright, all rights reserved.

01 kva golubaya.jpg  02 kva kras.m.jpg  03 kva zel mal.jpg  

Happy multi-colored frogs!
How can I not hear your croaks?
In your giant protruding eyes
Insight grows and multiplies!

Blue on orange, green on red,
Violet on green - big heads,
Grasping feet, and smiling mouths -
Groucho Marx battles with Faust!

And within your bellies big -
Did you just swallow a pig?
Pretty multi-colored frogs!
Here, go jump upon a log!


04 2kva$110.jpg

Happy newly-wedded frogs
Prince and princess of the bog!
In your eyes we see the sun -
Soon your flesh will be as one!

Soon a little frog will pop
Out the belly - it will hop
On the leaves, within the wood,
And wake all the neighborhood!

Soon will come the little elves -
But before then, be yourselves!
Go enjoy your honeymoon -
You will have your hands full soon!


05 Kva$95.jpg  

Mommy frog and baby frog -
Hear the beating of the clock!
Know that time is on your side
As you battle with the tide!

She will nurture, she'll provide
She will warm the child inside,
And the child sticks out its tongue -
Is he not a piece of dung?

No, no, he is just like you -
Born within your belly too -
He'll continue family line -
Even if he is a swine.


06 Big 4frogs canvas.jpg  
      
Happy Beaver Cleaver frogs -
Do they not look just like dogs?
Loyal, loving, easy friends -
And not hard to understand:

Inner children, girl and boy,
The boy sassy, the girl coy,
And their parents, in their guts,
Know that both of them are nuts:

But because they are their kids
On their laps they let them sit -
And they feed them from the hem
Till they become just like them.


07 Big 2freinds frog canv..jpg

You are happy! Do not say!
Is it just a sunny day?
Or have you kids grown up fast
And then left you at long last?

Happy couple! You are blessed!
Raised your kids, and now can rest!
There is no more happy frog
In the whole of the bog!


09 L2frog.jpg  10 L3greenFrog.jpg 

Bright surrealistic frogs!
Rearrangement of the clocks!
Dali, Pollock and Van Gogh
Jumping out to say hello!

Giant blue eyes and mellow mouths -
What religion you espouse?
What philosophy are you?
And how much of it is true?

Only your obnoxious selves
Are not found on any shelves:
You'll inspire, then you'll return,
And you know you'll never learn.


11 L2big blueFrog.jpg

Oh how happy are you two
By the flowers, in the zoo,
Where before us you appear
And there's nothing left to fear!

Happy frogs! In love you are -
And to all you are the stars -
And all eyes upon you are,
Happy Frogs America!

You'll be lured, then you'll be tamed,
With the wealth and with the fame,
And then you'll be unashamed
As the swamp you left is drained.


12 L2frog kuvshinki.jpg  

Oh how pretty you have grown,
In the world you have been thrown
Two sweet croaking jumping stars
Girl from Venus, man from Mars!

You have wisdom, you have will,
You have all the social skill
That you need to be great stars
Girl from Venus, man from Mars!

Lilies bow before your feet
And your smiles, knowing and sweet,
Charm the world - You are great stars,
Girl from Venus, man from Mars!


13 L3bigfrog.jpg 

Yogic frogs, with wisdom too -
With white spots on skins of blue -
You are now in Hollywood:
Did you ever know you would?

And then there's that little kid
He'll be blessed, as Elton said,
But in sparks of blue and white
How are you so like the night!

And the tapestry askew -
And the heart between you two -
Are there any more smug frogs
In any of the world's bogs?


14 L3frog.jpg

Now the kid is grown, and he
Jumps around with joy and glee
Happy that you both are stars
Girl from Venus, Man from Mars!

Do you know what he'll become
When he knows where he comes from?
Do you not yet understand?
Got Bin Laden on your hands!


15 L4big Frog.jpg 

On the other side of town
Frogs are swiftly multiplying
Thinking that the more of them
All the stronger they become.

There's no space for them; and so
They will all then go to war.
Oh sweet Jesus! What a mess!
Many toads have died for less.


  16 Lbig ride frog.jpg

On the cycle, with a gun,
Under beaming desert sun
Comes the blue avenger frog
Riding onward through the bog.

In Afghanistan, Iraq,
In the place where all is fucked,
He will show them how it's done
At the barrel of a gun.

He'll astound, he'll amaze,
He will put them all in place,
Then they'll all again be quiet
And all things will be all right.


08 Kva$85.jpg

So then life again renews
After some unhappy truce.
Blessed be, happy little frog
In the middle of the bog!