Luke and the Frog: An American Fairytale OR What It Feels Like to Be a Parent in America

On the Monday after Mother’s Day, 
after another mass shooting, 
I pick up my daughter from school 
and on the ride home while she munches 
on veggie chips and looks out the window, 
she tells me a modern day fairytale:

“Luke killed a frog today 
at the playground
during recess
the frog was small
not a baby frog
a teenage frog
because he had a medium-sized body 
not a small body
a green & blue medium-sized spotted body 
Luke stepped on it & stepped on it
until there was blood
& the teacher had to call the frog ambulance
& Luke was put on the naughty list
& I was the only one who yelled stop! 
Stop! Don’t kill it! 
but Luke wouldn’t listen
& the others joined in on the stomping
& I yelled stop! 
but no one would listen
& they stomped & stomped
& killed the frog 
& and it bled red
out of its eyes
out of its head
& it made me sad
& can we buy the frog flowers
because when someone dies they should get flowers
& Mami, what if that frog was supposed to be a prince 
but now he’s dead
& now we’ll never know”

Copyright © 2023 by Jasminne Mendez. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 5, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets. 

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“This poem is based on an actual conversation I had with my daughter in the car after school one day. Her story reminded me that, no matter how hard I try to protect her, violence can be found everywhere in the United States, even on the school playground. Everyday when I drop her off at school, I worry that she could be the victim of a school shooting, and that is also what this poem is about. To me the frog represents all school children in America, and my daughter represents the parents who are screaming at everyone else to please make it stop.”
—Jasminne Mendez