May 16: Safety first

wild geese nesting
next to a guard dog
lawn ornament

November 26: Lucky 7

flock of seven geese

if you believe in omens

that’s some luck right there

November 9: First frost

Scraping frost off my car

how I envy

the flock of geese overhead.

October 18: Detour

Bridge closed.

Geese float upriver

waiting for dark.

October 14: The Magic Flute

What’s not to love about a staging of Mozart’s opera “Die Zauberflote” (The Magic Flute) that features lots of colorful bird puppets flitting around Papageno the bird catcher, a giant flying goose to carry the three spirit guides, and dancing bears?

Humming aloud

music from The Magic Flute.

Field full of geese.

October 12: Cacophony

before the sun’s up

first crows, then a flock of geese

must you be so loud

October 20-B: Hunger

Geese flying overhead.

Our neighbor pulls a wagon

to the food pantry.

Posted with Blogsy

October 20-A: Wild geese

geese flying overhead

their heart-stirring calls

an ancient poetry

Posted with Blogsy

August 18: Dawn patrol

For how much longer--

the calls of wild geese

flying upriver at dawn?

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July 29: After dark

at home after dark
we hear geese flying over
there's Saturn and Mars

June 1: Insomnia

Geese pass in the dark.

At dawn, rising wind.

I listen to your breathing.

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October 30: At the planning workshop

Morning, downtown--
skein of geese flying
past the opera house.

September 9: Fall in the air

Overhead in the dark
the sounds of geese flying.
We close the windows.

August 16: Homing

Attended a talk/reading in Belfast by behavioral zoologist Bernd Heinrich, whose most recent (and very interesting) book is The Homing Instinct: Meaning & Mystery in Animal Migration. He read from the book and also talked a bit about the human connection to home.

Talk on homing instinct.
Driving back roads--
geese gathering in mown fields

May 12: Early morning

Natural alarm clock:

open bedroom window,

dawn patrol of geese.

Posted with Blogsy

December 7: Chill a moment

Rushing to get out of the cold,
I'm stopped by calls
of geese overhead.

November 21: Wake up

Four geese fly 

across the white face

of the morning moon.

October 25: Movement

Unseen upriver
many geese honking,
then the flurry of wings.

March 29: Geese

When I arrived at work this morning, the air was filled with the sound of honking: two pairs of geese were railing at each other in what seemed to be a territorial dispute. Last year, a pair nested along the river near the Seabright Dam, and I wondered if they had returned to defend their former spot.

No more ice.
Geese defend
last year's nesting site.

October 4: Geese overhead

Here on the river we often see or hear Canada geese, which nest nearby, but this time of year their calls as they fly overhead seem particularly poignant. They aren't actually leaving us--large flocks of geese hang out through most of the winter on nearby farm fields and golf courses. But there's nonetheless something emotionally resonant about the sound that makes me run to a window to try to catch sight of those large birds winging their way across the bleak fall sky, rambling on their minds.

White sky
filled with calls of geese
flying out of sight.