The One With the Frog

a frog lying weightlessly upon her soft back
on a lily pad floating down a river
raises her left foot and spreads her toes wide.

lifting her leg still higher,
she eclipses the moon with the taut skin
stretched between her long bony metatarsals.

cold reflected light filters through the thin flesh,
lighting it with a pink internal glow
and silhouetting the delicate arteries that cross it.

she idly traces the pulsing arteries using
the sensitive tip of her long outstretched tongue.
feels the blood pumped through them
with each squeeze of her amphibious heart.

satisfied that she still lives,
she wraps her powerful tongue
around her own ankle

and with a single sharp tug
swallows herself whole,
disappearing without a sound.