Exploding Toads

The following is the first line of an Associated Press article entitled "Exploding Toads Puzzle German Scientists."

BERLIN (AP) - More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.

Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050427/D89NPBP80.html for complete article.

Mrs. Atkins said, "I read the article to the girls (Literary Magazine Staff) and told them to ponder the exploding toads. Kate came up with the poem."

Below is the poem. Enjoy.

Swelling up
all puffy and
round
squishy and
sticky
bubbly
and lethal
quietly growing
storing its
mystery
in all of
its bulbous
glory until
it explodes

by kate worthern

Literary Magazine Staff