On Hearing Frogs At Night Poem by Francis Duggan

The moonless sky dotted with bright stars on a cool and damp Winter's night
The breeding frogs in the roadside drain singing at the sound of passing footsteps they grow quiet
I shine my torch but I cannot see them they hide from the glare of the light
The secret of survival for these tiny amphibians is to remain concealed and out of sight

Of nocturnal or diurnal predators their elusiveness is their only means of defence
In wet weather in their breeding season they sing in the drain by the roadside fence
Their songs to me are so familiar in ponds, dams and drains they are rife
Their tiny young their genes will carry and insure the continuance of life.

Yet I seem to know little about them and of Nature even less I seem to know
And at the magical powers of the great Nature Goddess the wonder in me only grow
Her colours they change with the Seasons in her vastness I feel like one grain of sand
All life on this Planet comes from her that live in Ocean and on Land.

The night is dark and the frogs are singing I hear them in the roadside drain
In their breeding season in late Winter they sing in the drizzling rain
Very small and quite shy amphibians and hard to see and hard to find
Their elusiveness is to their advantage it insures the survival of their kind.