Twas late that year to be December

I walked alone without a dog

The airborne ice - I still remember

But more the words - ‘we’re fleas in frog’

I turned to glance but no one’s there

So journeyed on without a care

That voice once more, I lent an ear

‘We’re not up there, we’re all down here’

I stooped to see and at my feet

A large green frog emitting heat

He made no sound but muffled shouts

Came from the frog, ‘please let us out’

What’s fleas in frog I thus enquired?

Frogs lick them up - as we’re required

To keep quite warm - it makes fine eating

A ‘froggy’ kind of central heating

I told the frog it seemed quite cruel

The frog replied, ‘for winter fuel,

I had the likes of Ready Breck

Three Shredded Wheat and what the heck

I’ve had french toast and bacon baps

Enough Pop Tarts I’ve near collapsed

And nothing goes down with such ease

As ten or fifteen bouncing fleas’

He then went on, ‘they’re fine in there

If not they’d be in someone's hair

Or in your ear - or I suppose

You’d probably find them up your nose!’

To this refrain I should agree

Fleas in the hair I’ve had you see

And on the dog I never had

That lasted months and made him sad

So onward with a marching stride

Frog hopped beside with fleas inside

Both feeling happy with our pace

Until the sun did show it’s face

You see the frog began to lift

The fleas at ease made this quite swift

They heated up and with the thaw

Frog reasons to exist - no more

So if you’re walking all alone

With the dog you never had

Remember check both up and down

As fleas in frog is not so bad

In fact they somehow go together

And as the frog begins to lift

Remember there would be less weather

If fleas in frog did not exist

Richard Lee 2007