Monday, April 27, 2015

Day 24-ish: Spring Confrontation

Poem:

Spring Confrontation

The sun today shines down,
shimmers over April afternoon.
I walk with my son,
talk about the world while he

tosses back Minecraft analogies,
bright blue eyes looking up
from under brown hair
two weeks late for a trim.

A gang of Canadian geese lurks
over by the pond,
mills about in feather jackets,
honks smack about the ducks.

One looks over, snarl-beaked,
pushes up the bank.
The breeze pushes bare branches,
blows a plastic bag tumbleweed

across the road.  He stretches,
waddle-stalks forward and
charges, yells something about
my mother or his turf—

I don’t know (I speak Canadian
but I don’t speak goose).
The boy whimpers into my back,
face under my shoulder blades.

I have no interest in the goose,
his gaggle or his lady,
but I’m an American
and won’t back down.

I stand tall, puff my chest,
and step forward once,
glare into beady eyes
that falter and drop.

He calls out a parting,
impotent shot; tiny fingers
squeeze tightly on mine,
and we walk on.

Commentary:

This is a story-telling poem that captures a moment from earlier this month.  I used personification and some exaggeration for effect.  The poem also uses present tense to make the action feel more immediate.

The poem moves between characters and setting, an attempt to build a world both around and within the confrontation.  This works to both focus in on the moment described and frame it as just a moment within a broader context.

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