Tommy the Toad
Gordon J.L. Ramel

Tommy the toad is terribly tough
and he lives on the hill where the grass is all rough,
his skin is a lumpyish brown sort of buff
and he speaks in a voice that is creaky and gruff.

He isn’t that social, so he lives on his own,
but he never complains about being alone.
He spends all his days in a hole in the ground,
but at night he comes out to go walking around.

He goes looking for dinner, for lunch and for tea
and small tasty snacks that are going for free,
he likes eating crickets, and earwigs and bugs
and squiggily spiders and slippery slugs.

He also likes beetles and woodlice and flies
and anything else he can catch by surprise.
He isn’t a lover of morals and manners
and he hasn’t a clue about pliers and spanners.

He’s really quite brave, and he's awfully strong,
though his life is quite simple and not very long,
but he’ll live it completely right up to the end,
and despite all his faults I still call him my friend.

About this Photo and Poem

The photograph at the top of the page is called "Toad in a Hole" and was taken by Lynn Lunger (USA).

The author of this poem, Gordon J.L. Ramel, is a well-published poet who also holds a Master's Degree in Ecology from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom.