Beware one and all and stay home.

Tonight of all nights, do not stray, do not roam

Out the door of your house. Be quiet as a mouse.

For tonight is the night, what a horrible fright,

When the Frog King chooses his bride.

With great ceremony, as he gives testimony

Of his love most enormous, he then searches for us

With every grain of his genius most porous,

And the first that he finds of the female kind,

The Frog King will choose as his bride.

Young lasses beware, and above all take care.

If he catches you here, you’ll wind up over there

To someday succumb to a muddy despair

With duckweed and pond scum caked in your hair.

The Frog King is coming. So HIDE.

Image and poem copyright © 2024 by William Moore

Used with permission by gwynna c moore