Loony

Yesterday I posted about my love of lakes and loons. When we were just starting out as a family, we lived in Minnesota, where loons are the state bird. The more I saw and heard them, the more I became enamored with them. Loony, you might say.

Laura Purdy Salas has written a beautiful book, Secrets of the Loon, which I pulled out yesterday when thinking about loons. No surprise that Laura's poetry is lovely. I especially admire these lines about the unborn chick:

"squeezed inside an olive egg,

bill meets wing meets folded leg"

To learn more about loons, look for Laura's book.  Also, don't miss this great website about loons:  www.loon.org.  

Today I'm sharing some loon poems that I started a few years ago and recently revisited. 

thanks to istockphoto for this image...

Ancient Voices

I listen for loons

For their ancient voices

Eerie and echoing 

Drenching the world with sound

Have you heard them

Wailing in raucous harmony

Shrieking in the moonlight

Yoo-hooing from lake to lake?

Have you heard

Low tender voices

Babbling with spouses

Feeding their young in the morning mist?

Like an earnest chick, I stop to listen

Spellbound, astounded 

I treasure these primal wails --

Surely they bless the north woods

© Karen Eastlund

Image by longacre at Pixabay

You can hear the many calls of loons here:  https://loon.org/the-call-of-the-loon/

Here's a little loon haiku to end the post:

Tuxedoed loons dive

Deep into crystal waters

Sushi bar below

Hooray! It is Poetry Friday...

Many thanks to Molly Hogan for hosting at Nix the Comfort Zone.  She's sharing her own fabulous baseball-related poems. You'll find links to the whole gang at her site.

Enjoy these last weeks of summer!