2021 CLAIRE KEYES UNDERGRADUATE POETRY AWARD WINNER

Luke Latshaw

IN SEARCH OF TINY FROGS

I’ve known her ever since I was a kid

When we would visit the pond

Where we would turn over rocks

In search of tiny frogs.

I used to give her piggy-back rides

So that I could bring her with me

To the sides of the water where

We weren’t supposed to go

To the sides of the water where

Serpents slept amongst the reeds.

I would share popsicles with her

On hot days that sang to us,

After waiting our turn

On pavement that turned to lava,

And rainbows would melt down our wrists

Painting our toes.

But once when the sun was a little too bright

And the wind a little too brisk

I moved a rock a little too fast

In search of tiny frogs.

And the body

Must have scared her,

For she went away for quite some time,

After seeing it flattened against the rock.

Luke Latshaw lives in Salem, MA, where he studies Psychology and English at Salem State University. He enjoys melding the two disciplines, trying to capture the human condition—and all frog-related traumas that may accompany it—through poetry and fiction writing. He particularly enjoys the horror genre, psychological-thrillers, anything with ghosts in it, long walks on the beach, and stargazing on his roof usually while complaining about the cold. This is his first publication.