“Over there” you called
while I un-
folded my father’s old tripod
put my eye to the scope
eagerly watching the white-
fronted geese, swimming rest-
lessly waiting, eating, preparing
for weather and wind
to carry them skyward
northward away,
and for a moment
I thought about leaving.
Later we saw them
stretching over the reeds,
calling cho-u, cho-u
and maybe today
they will be parting
for the true north, like you
might be too.
Huang Yongyu
Today Kim hosts Poetics at dVerse, and we write in first person and animals inspired by the poem ‘The Print the Whales Make’. by Marjorie Saiser from her collection I Have Nothing to Say about Fire (Backwaters Press, 2016). Please use any other animals than the whale. We were out trying some birdwatching on Sunday, inspired by the scope we took care of from my fathers belongings.
April 13, 2021
Björn Rudbergs writings 
This feels so free and yet so settled. Lovely.
Birds are always a great inspiration, Björn, especially geese. I love the image you chose to accompany your poem, which is a beautiful capture of a moment through a lens, the restlessness of both geese and humans.
I like how you managed to parallel the flight of the geese with the perspective of both members of the couple. Who knows what dreams take flight in the mind of another?
So utterly gorgeous Bjorn.
A beautiful piece of poetry Bjorn.
This is absolutely phenomenal, Bjorn! I love the serenity of the poem and the depiction of restlessness, the preoccupation of the geese and humans. 💝💝
I like the visual of stretching over the reeds. There is an unsettling in the geese and an unsettling in the writer about what may come. Nice parallel.
Glad you also chose geese to write about and the “new” toy of the scope sounds like it could be a source of much happy viewing.
An exquisite piece, Bjorn. You paralleled the unpredictability of animals to that of love beautifully. Well done!
It feels like this have several perspectives. Two people in a couple, or thinking about a lost one. It might be my current frame of mind, but I felt sorrow and longing in this one.
Beautiful written! ❤️
Lovely, Bjorn, and forlorn.
“like you might be too”…That final line is so good, it got me!
A lovely and haunting piece. Who among us has not looked at birds and envied their flights. The closest we come is dream-flying, with arms outstretched, solo. Flying in planes is mechanical and a bit sterile. Lighter than air crafts might thrill you though.
Wonderful work indeed, Bjorn. Migration is simultaneously fearsome & , desirably inevitable, eh?
We are always heading somewhere else. Lovely illustration too. (K)
The inner conflict paralleled with the geese taking flight is eloquently done here!
The call and sight of birds in migration tugs at our wanderlust. For me it is the call of lake loons across the water. Well written Bjorn.
There is truth in saying “free as a bird”. For one moment it was a consideration. Wonderful feeling ☺️
Björn, I like how you compared not only yourself to the geese, but also your partner.
❤
David
Very beautiful. I can’t say better what has already been said by others.
Beautifully done! You captured the spirit of the prompt beautifully.
” for a moment
I thought about leaving.”
My favorite line. 🙂
Really relateble I just started my own travel blog and then covid hit and I could not travel anymore from my country. No travel planning for me at all 😦