Toad Patrol

Crossing the road is imminent.

The moon is high –

The lake is still

And the blob-a-gobs jiggle

and mulch inside and all thoughts

are fat with ‘Pop’

And my back it pipes with nuptial

clamp – that once I loved –

but now I carry

So it’s time to face

the tarmac

again – to cross

my toes and gloss my warts

To trust

in the abundance of buckets

and their fluorescent

rain-zippered

Gods.

Nikki Claire Grant grew up in Kent surrounded by a menagerie of beasts. She likes rhubarb and roast parsnips and rabbits (but not to eat!). Her poems have been published in the small press and have also been aired in performance. www.dailymice.co.uk