Glass Frog

The glass frog is a master magician: he bares not only his heart but his digestive tract, too, puts his guts on display without spilling them, as luminous & orderly as a Joseph Cornell box. His call is pure crystal, & he can produce a full chorus from his single throat. Day & night he squats by his clutch of eggs, darting the parasitic flies before they can inject their own dangerous eggs, as the tadpoles grow visible through the clearing albumen. One night they wriggle free, slide off their natal leaf & drop into the jungle stream far below, there to burrow into the sandy bed. Living in a cloud forest, is it ever possible to stop dreaming? Trees bloom in lurid colors that are not their own & anything that wants to hide can simply sit still & learn how to be transparent from gas & fog.