How proud I was of my pet hognose snake
Though now I know keeping pets to be reprehensible
When children are suffering fatal privation
Wild pets particularly
The attempt to domesticate which
Constitutes a form of animal abuse

But my pet ate wild food inedible to humans
Indeed the hognose is the only creature
I know of that could tolerate
The toxic toads that abounded
In my north Florida homeland

After dark with a flashlight
I would patrol the sidewalk
Hunting for the chubby hoppers
Present in their dozens
The only challenge to select
The toad neither too large nor too small
For the loose-hinged jaw to accommodate

When you return to the place childhood
All has changed
All has grown smaller
I walked the sidewalk with my new grandchild
Too small for me too large for the baby
No toads could we find of any size