Bashō’s Frog

by PoemToday

That day a dark, vermillion, winter sky,

like a Turner water-colour, was seen

reflected in an old pond where, nearby,

the poet Bashō watched a small, unclean

and speckled frog jump in the evening air

and meet the water with a gentle plop,

an almost soundless splash, a plash near where

the other sounds of twilight seemed to stop

as Bashō, without writing, memorised

that gentle movement and, with a wry smile,

acknowledged to himself he had devised

a way to turn a frog into a style.

So: this is my version of Bashō’s frog.

Go: post your comments on my briefpoems blog.

A sonnet from the “Brief Poems” blog, dated 30 August 2015, by PoemToday (on X), which might be Conor Kelly, who might be the editor of the “Brief Poems” blog. Yes, post your comments on the author’s serendipitous blog!