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The Wild Suburbs
by
Erle Kelly


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A juvenile Cooper's Hawk perches
on our lawn chair.
He swivels his head toward a piercing sound
and silently flaps into our magnolia.
The squirrel leaves bits of fig on the ground
and remnants of daisies on our outside table.
A Black Phoebe flies in, swoops between our pond,
table, and pear tree, snatching noseeums on the fly.
Raccoons at night, unable to catch a pond fish,
chew on lily pads and flowers.
A red dragonfly bounces her abdomen
on the pond water, laying her minuscule eggs.
Hawk piercing calls, squirrel tracks, raccoon tracks,
phoebe and dragonfly sightings.
How little I know of the ways of the wild ones.


© by Erle Kelly.
Used with the author's permission.

 


Erle Kelly lives in Long Beach, California. A graduate of the state university there, he entered the Navy Air Force after college and became a navigator. After his years in naval service, Erle enjoyed a career in sales and marketing management. After retiring, he tutored at a local elementary school for many years. Today, Erle is active in a poetry writing class and his work has appeared in various online publications. He greatly enjoys his community vegetable garden and cycling, but his greatest joy is when he and his wife spend time with their friends, their four grandchildren, and their three great-grandchildren.   

 

 


Post New Comment:
BAMars:
Written with your usual sensitivity toward the natural world and our animal neighbors. Nice work, Erle.
Posted 09/18/2022 10:13 PM
Michael:
Really like the careful observational skills that went into this poem. Nicely done, Erle.
Posted 09/18/2022 06:01 PM
joecot:
How little we know, but how well you express it.
Posted 09/18/2022 12:16 PM
Lori Levy:
Great details. So much activity of the wild ones.
Posted 09/18/2022 12:14 PM
peninsulapoet:
Beautiful, closely observed poem.
Posted 09/18/2022 11:01 AM
mail@schoolbusmart.com:
Oh, the ways of the wild ones in the burbs!
Posted 09/18/2022 10:12 AM
cork:
"Noseeums" must have a history that I plan to explore.
Posted 09/18/2022 09:50 AM
Larry Schug:
This poem could and should provide inspiration to the mass of suburbanites and city dwellers, for that matter showing ourselves that we can all do just a little to help our planet survive and even flourish and, in the process, provide ourselves with great joy.
Posted 09/18/2022 08:03 AM


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