I'm looking for a poem that I saw in a Ranger Rick magazine in the 80's.

It starts with the verse:
"A lobster tail with a wishbone sail,
Made a rollicking pirate boat,
For a fearless frog named Bolivar Bog,
Who lived on the castle moat."

and ends with the verse:
"But the frog gave a hoot and sailed the loot,
To a place called Shady Wood,
Where he gave the gems to some starving wrens.....
Like a nautical Robin Hood."

Thank You very much

It's unlikely we can find it on the web. Maybe the publishers of the magazine can help you. Try to contact them:

[www.nwf.org] />
or maybe the customer service:

[www.nwf.org] />
let me know if you manage to get hold of it. I am pretty curious after looking for some time!

Desi,
I had asked NWF about the poem by e-mail before but never got a response. I called them this time and finally got ahold of them. ( Time wise, Alaska is not a good place to call back east from). I eventually got a hold of Michele and then Christine, who found the poem. I was surprised to hear it was in a Oct. 1989 issue as I was sure it was several years earlier. I'd searched some public libraries as they have back issues but they didn't have them online. I had even went to E-bay and was asking folks who were selling back issues if they could check them for me, which they kindly did. So here it is. I don't have the author yet but I think it was in the Ranger Rick magazine.

" The Pirate Frog"

A lobster tail with a wishbone sail
made a rollicking pirate boat,
For a fearless frog named Bolivar Bog
who sailed on a castle moat.

The bucaneer wore a ring in his ear
wrought from a daffodil petal,
And always on board he carried a sword
that he'd carved from a prickly nettle.

The frog's first mate was a mouse named Nate
his crew was a band of crickets,
Whom he hired on site one stormy night
when he'd anchored among the thickets.

Now the pirates bold sought buttercup gold
and jewels like emerald grass,
Ruby cherries and amethyst berries
and diamonds of sparkling glass.

To capture their booty they stayed on duty
ever in hopes they'd meet,
Some milkweed pods oared with goldenrods--
the ships of the royal fleet.

The royal ships made merchant trips
in the name of Madge their queen,
A comely toad whose grand abode
was the castle on the green.

Bolivar made a rollicking raid
on a royal ship one morn,
He stole four kegs of pearl ant eggs
and ears of golden corn.

The queen turned pale when she heard the tale
and said to her soldier mice,
"Hang that thief from an aspen leaf
piracy just isn't nice!"

But the frog gave a hoot and sailed the loot
to a place called Shady Wood,
Where he gave the gems to some starving wrens--
like a nautical Robin Hood.

Congratulations on your perseverance, and thanks very much for posting it - it's a beaut!! I had a quick look when you posted the original request, and have been keeping my eyes open for it, without any luck.

marian2, thank you for searching and as far as posting it: your very welcome.
NWF was even willing to send a color copy at my request. I was just glad to get the two forgotten verses. If it does have the author on it I'll try and remember to post whomever it is.

I received the copy of the poem and while it does not state the author it does give some information about it. The poem was published in The Friend magazine, copyright 1981, by the Mormon church.

Thanks again for persevering - it's always good to acknowledge the author so s/he gets any credit going, but not always possible. I collect poems and little stories to read to children, (among other things) and they'll love that one, especially as we have ponds and great fondness for the frogs breeding in them. Do you know this one?

A story wet as tears by Marge Piercy



Remember the princess who kissed the frog
so he became a prince? At first they danced
all weekend, toasted each other in the morning
with coffee, with champagne at night
and always with kisses. Perhaps it was
in bed after the first year had ground
around she noticed he had become cold
with her. She had to sleep
with a heating pad and down comforter.
His manner grew increasingly chilly
and damp when she entered a room.
He spent his time in water sports,
hydroponics, working on his insect
collection.
Then in the third year
when she said to him one day, my dearest,
are you taking your vitamins daily,
you look quite green, he leaped
away from her.
Finally on their
fifth anniversary she confronted him.
'My precious, don't you love me any
more?' He replied 'Rivet. Rivet.'
Though courtship turns frogs into princes,
marriage turns them quietly back.

Does 'Rivet. Rivet.' mean anything other than a croak? If not, maybe 'Knee-deep. Knee-deep.' would be an improvement.

Rivet, rivet is generally accepted as the noise frogs make like cats meow (or miaou), cows moo etc. I agree knee-deep better represents the sound.

I always thought they said 'ribbet, ribbet.' Maybe it's just American frogs.

pam

And in Greece they apparently say "Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax"

No, I've never heard that one before so thank you for posting it. It ended differently than I thought it would. I've written several poems over the years and I've thought of posting them in the User Submitted Poetry section but I'm still working on getting the courage up to do it. It's not always easy to be vulnerable and share some thing that is a part of me. I know that some painters experience the same thing.

["Brekekekex, ko-ax, ko-ax"]

Obviously a tricky language. Isn't it remarkable how the baby frogs learn to speak it.