Poetry Friday: A Loon’s Day in Free Verse

What’s black and white and heard all over?

A loon, of course!

A poor joke, I know. But, if you’ve ever heard a loon call, you might agree!

Loons are wonderful waterfowl that we have in residence on our lake in Northern Wisconsin. Their distinctive call has been heard over and over the last few days, especially at dusk and dawn.

Loon, Bird, Waterbird, Duck, Fauna, Wild Fowl, Aves
Common Loon.

Loons are native to the state of Wisconsin. They are migratory birds and appear in the northern part of the state in the summer on or near our numerous freshwater lakes.  In the fall and winter, loons can be found in Mexico and the southern Atlantic states. If you live in the southern half of Wisconsin, you might be lucky to spot a look in the spring, stopping over on a lake in your neck of the woods

Speaking of necks, look at that distinctive plumage! The call of the loons this morning inspired my poem for Poetry Friday. A family of three was swimming and calling so long that I had to rush out to the dock to try and capture the conversation. Unfortunately, they were not close enough for photos, so I included some copyright-free images from Pixabay! On the lake, however, I saw three loons, swimming and calling between two boats – one at either end of the lake. It was a fun and welcome sight!

A Loon’s Day

Black and white,

Almost tuxedo-like.

Common Loon feathers,

stuck together make

a natural pattern

to instantly

recognize our

waterfowl friend.

Waking us at dawn with

a call that sounds crazy,

notifying its young to stop

being lazy.

The time is now to fish,

you see, the mother Loon

is as wise as can be.

Get on the lake, before the

fishermen rise, let’s beat them

to the grandest prize.

This lake is nice, says Mama Loon,

but let’s do our best to take our

food before the boats arrive and

scare us too. Back to the nest in the

rising day’s heat,  we’ll wait for dinner

until the people are all beat.

Then we can swim again, on our beloved swell, 

calling to other loons to join us and dwell.

On the lake, we’ll glide while the sun

sinks low. Happily, happily, we live on the go.

loon-1543596_1920

Today is Poetry Friday! This week’s roundup is hosted by A Word Edgewise blog. Thank you for hosting!

14 thoughts

  1. Carol, this poem is delightful! I love science facts blended with narrative poetry. I do love a good loon call. I haven’t heard one in a long time. I think I need to head north in a summer soon.

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  2. Sounds like you have a lovely view! I don’t know what loons sound like, but my husband has heard a lot of them and he said our dog Preston sounded like one this week when he was upset that I was gone. As you say, it’s “a call that sounds crazy”!

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    1. Strangely enough, I’ve come to really love that crazy sound! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you get to hear a loon someday! It would be interesting to know if you thought it was like the upset dog or not!

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  4. You captured the Loon life perfectly in this poem.
    “Waking us at dawn with
    a call that sounds crazy,
    notifying its young to stop
    being lazy” – JUST like the human parent/child relationship! 🙂

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