“Something is a-foul
at the downtown waterfront!
I tell you, no word of a lie!
The geese are lined up in families!”
she says. with a sorrowful sigh!
“Geese are lying from shore to shore
and,
Swans from pier to pier!
I wonder if I will ever see
the beach again this year?”
With a warning “Honk!” and
an offensive “Hiss” from its beak,
Let me tell you, foul communication is NOT
for the very meek!”
I love the regal beauty of bird
and their calls from distances away-
But, can I now ask you…What is making them stay?
A little less bird and a bit more beach
would satisfy me lots,
As opposed to this, The Season of Birds tying my stomach in knots!
Poem By Ingrid Exner, Poetry Half Marathon 2020
I understand your dismay. Those pesky birds do rain on the beach goers parade. Literally! Fun poem!
Thanks TAmmi and thank you for enjoying my poem. I actually love birds! It is just that CAnada geese are very plentiful here. There had to be atleast 50 on the lake (in one small area) this morning. They are fairly large birds and have very bipolar tendances…tolerating you and then hissing at you within seconds… Thanks again for enjoying my poem and commenting.
I specifically love poems about birds. I got to go to an aviary for the first time last year. I love the image in this:
Geese are lying from shore to shore
and,
Swans from pier to pier!
Great work!
Thanks Angel! I love your poetry and your comments mean a lot to me. It is wonderful to see you back and read your words. Thanks for enjoying my poem PS: Geese truly are lying from shore to shore and swans from pier to pier…We have a newer pier and an older pier very close to where I live…I walk from pier to pier every morning (a 5km walk…3 miles) and love to watch the geese and the swans bathing themselves in both the morning light and water of the lake.
What a playful tribute. I love the picturing the geese “lined up in families!”
Thank you Mel! They do really seem to line up in families…Its very interesting to see! And each family as a “wing man”…an older brother or sister who helps the parents keep the younger ones in line 🙂
“Something is a-foul” is a wonderful pun in the poem! Great rhythm. It sounds like the birds have returned and are claiming back some of their old territory over there. I think it is the most wondrous thing, except I do know how ornery those geese can get.
Thanks Danielle! I am usually not a pun-y person but the amount of geese that we have in one little area can sometimes be ludicrous. At sunrise, when it is particularly humid…all the geese will run toward the sun and play in the thermals. It is beautiful to see but also sort of like a scene from The Birds…and then you have the 20 seagulls flying and swooping overhead-lol. So far, I have not been bombed…in all my years.
“I love the regal beauty of birds and their calls from distances away” Timeless line, lovely!
Thanks Siobhan! I am finding it difficult to pick my two poems to submit. Do you think this should be one of them?
I think it is a good choice for submitting, Ingrid. A treat for the reader!
Thanks Soibhan! I will submit it! Yay, One choice down!
This gives me shivers – I think of the movie when I see swarms of birds. It’s fun but scary… in a good way. Love it.
It is both beautiful and scary to see Sandra! Thankfully that massive gaggle of geese is far away. But, they are big birds and you don’t want to piss them off-lol!
Knowing the *exact* stretch of beach and the *exact* difficulty you describe in this poem, I can’t help but giggle and snicker at the problems so well-described in this poem!
Love it! Thanks for bringing Burlington Beach back to me. 🙂
Thanks Meredith. I seem to be making “in-roads” with at least one family…and I was granted a few good pics with their goslings . But yes, I have been hissed at once this summer already and had the big flapping of the boss bird-lol!