“Guo-guo-guo,” she goes.
The grasshopper of Ho Yan’s prose.
“Guo-guo-guo,” she goes.

She finds herself two country boys,
Who look to nature for their toys.
She asks, “Guo-guo-guo?”
Towards the sky the brothers show.
She nods as if they know she knows.
“Guo-guo-guo,” she goes.

The elder shushes younger’s lips,
And offers ‘hopper turnip chips.
Before she knows, the trap is set.
The elder wins his country bet.
Between her twitching body’s throes,
“Guo-guo-guo?” she goes.

He says the roots that form the trap
Had fallen into younger’s lap.
Before they’d thought of eating those,
They’d heard some distant guo-guos.
The younger bet his bloodied nose,
“Cicada’s crying out her woes.”
The elder tutted, “Ho Yan’s prose.
Where Jasmine buds a single rose.
It must be ‘hopper, listen close.
Guo-guo-guo, she goes.”

The country boys then hear a croak.
The younger tells a Ho Yan joke.
The ‘hopper dangles upside down.
She’s heard of Ho Yan’s frog’s renown.
If there be frogs, there will be dragons.
And dragons steal from country wagons –
They spare the cattle, take the boys.
So thinking, ‘hopper’s hearts rejoice.
And when the jaws of Ho Yan close,
“Guo-guo-guo,” she goes.