This is such a freshly worded poem and ambiguous in that what it means is not
entirely clear. I think that it concerns a man, the proverbial frog, that
when kissed is supposed to turn into a prince. I love the story (this is an
aside) about the frog who told the princess that if she kissed him he would turn
into a handsome prince. She refused, saying she had rather have a talking
frog. (ha!) In this poem frog never makes the transition to prince even though
the girl tries to kiss him as he flees. He is tongueless in the sense that
he lacks the ability to communicate on any deep level. He is frog from
beginning to end, although she seems to love him even in his froggy guise. Thanks
for this, Christina. Sue
The Tale of Leaping Heart
>
> Shocked by heaving slime, at first
> I couldn't kiss him. But I grew fond
> of fat, flesh-sucking toes and hooded eyes --
> they blinked and sank into his skull
> with every mouthful. For six days I marvelled --
> at silence, stillness, sudden song, luminous
> underbelly greens, his tongueless greed.
> And since I'd lost disgust I'd no desire to change him.
> The seventh day he paled and writhed,
> twisting, tugging skin over his head,
> pulling it off like a suffocating sweater.
> He gobbled it whole and when he leapt away
> I gathered the last sloughed cells
> and pressed them to my lips.
>
>
> .
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