The coquí’s screech, at its sonic peak
reaches 80 decibels, as loud as
the lawnmower my father
breaks his back over.

We’d rather hear the frogs.

Little throats balloon for
KO - KEE, KO - KEE
a lullaby warm like the
water they wade in.

All of 1 or 2 inches, but
their songs bounce off tin roofs like
rainstorms in hurricane season.

The children are growing used to the call
but the adults resist, they insist
it’s not what they grew up with.

Invasive species in the USA,
best to exterminate, they’re too
loud anyway.