Goose Talk

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

A few of the owners of “our” lake

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.

27 thoughts on “Goose Talk

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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 😉

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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!

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

  10. 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?

  11. 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.

  12. 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. : )

  13. 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!

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