Happy Poetry Friday! How are you celebrating National Poetry Month? I intended to participate in Laura Shovan’s Water Poem Project this month. I have not written a poem for every prompt, but I figured I should at least write something for the prompt I offered. And there’s still time to respond to those I missed.
My challenge was to write a mask poem about an animal and its watery home. The Canada geese have been loudly greeting me on my daily walks and inspired this:
Goose Talk
This lake is ours.
We honk. We squawk
when you dare
tread on our dock.
We hiss and paddle.
We honk. We squawk.
We beat our wings
We lift. We flock
and circle ’til
you turn and walk
then splash back down
with raucous talk.
This lake is ours.
We honk. We squawk.
— ©Buffy Silverman
I’m grateful for the geese and our other feathered and furry neighbors for sharing their homes with us–that’s been so helpful in this stressful time. I hope that you are able to enjoy some nature where you live. And some poetry! For this week’s poetry roundup, visit My Juicy Little Universe, where Heidi shares a little nostalgia and some #ShelterInPoems.
I love the shape and repetition of this poem, Buffy! A fine use of rhyme and the very essence of goose territorialism!
I love the repetition – so very goosey!
This poem is made to be read aloud to kids. Nice job!
This poem sounds just like geese! So much fun!
Love the bossy personality that shines through in this poem, Buffy! So fitting. It feels a bit like I’m revisiting the clique-ishness of my high school days. 😉
This is fabulous–love all the sound effects!
Love the repetition in this poem. It reminds me of the repetitive squawking we hear from these feathered friends. Your poem is a wonderful example of a small moment captured with just right words. Thank you.
Buffy, the geese are full of squawk talk in your poem. Your sound words are engaging and there is a good deal of motion, commotion in your poem. I have to laugh at the first photo. It would be a great meme for a social distancing ad. I wonder of the geese sense the goings on of the world. I am hoping that you will allow me to showcase your poem and the picture I love at my new Nature Nurtures Gallery. I am collecting poems this month and showcasing them at my blog post. Let me know what you think.
When I saw your geese on the inlinkz preview, I thought they were penguins on ice flows! Great sense of hustle in your poem.
I liked this poem from the word, “ours.” This is a young gang ready to rumble….punks.If the poem you wrote about them wasn’t so fun, I’d call the cops 😉
Lots of geese around here lately too. I love hearing their squawking. Your poem really captures the whole attitude of these bossy creatures. It was a lot of fun to read. Thanks for sharing it! Stay well.
I’m finding that it’s nature in all its squawking honking glory that gets me through each day. We have quail here where I am scuttling around together in mobs. (No social distancing for them) Truthfully, at the same time as I revel in their antics, birds of all kinds make me green with envy these days.
Oh, I love all those “awk” sounds in your poem, Buffy. Perfect for those wonderful, loud Canada geese.
I used to take my kids to feed the ducks. The geese were always so aggressive! Your poem is spot on!
Excellent. I love it. Thanks.
I have to drive to the lake where I find these ‘raucous’ ‘squawkers’, Buffy, but I love when I take the time to go. I’ll remember your poem next time!
Delightful poem and photos! I like their assertiveness. 🙂
That is just like the geese I’ve met. We have a pair that occasionally visit our pond, but they haven’t yet claimed it for themselves completely.
Writing a mask poem was a lovely suggestion.
Your poem is inspiring. Geese go over our house every morning on their way from one pond to another and I love how they talk to each other in flight. I’m thinking about things from their perspective now.
I love your poem that begins with honks and squawks and ends with them. It’s funny how birds take over docks and swim rafts. Of course they own these man made things built on their watery environment.
You have captured the goose voice! I love the repetition and onomatopoeia.
I love this! We have a pair who seem to be staying to nest at the little pond by the barn. My goodness they make such a racket when I go anywhere near. The duck pair that are sometimes there stare as if to say what’s wrong with those two?
Love this! You nailed those bossy creatures.
Thanks for this nice treat.
O Buffy – these squwakers may not know their cousins are down here in Tallahassee. I laughed all through “Goose Talk” It’s what we need for these times. Appreciations. And Good Health to you & yours.
Lovely poem, Buffy. NIce sentiment in the final paragraph. We’re lucky to share our space with a few wild things too.
Geese make their presence known, don’t they? I love the repeated phrase “We honk. We squawk.” in your poem, Buffy. Felt like I was with you and your feathered friends. Be well. : )
We have a lake in our town and have an abundance of geese, too. The repetition and the onomatopoeia of “honk and squawk” is very fitting. I also have to dodge the mines when I walk – nasty things!