gaggle of geese honk
around the dirty pond.
do they think of brain
development, AI touching
our kids? i want to honk
so loud they look up.
a red cap/white truck
honks. last night that dark
hunted a beautiful drag
star. rainbows stain
my arm. i want to throw
light into their eyes.
my mom’s in town.
early Christmas gifts.
she’s sick. brother too.
panic creases into
a paper goose. it honks
gently in my pocket.
*70/100: For the next 100 days, I’ll be writing and posting a poem every day. All photos are mine.
Wow, Bridgette, your “paper goose” stays with me, how we can want to wake the whole world yet carry our most intimate fears so quietly. Perfect.
Much love,
David
P.S. I’ve been really enjoying this poetry series of yours!
Thank you so much, David, for the kind comment. I appreciate you rooting me on. I’m starting to get out of the same pattern, I think, and maybe experimenting a bit more. I’m looking forward to seeing what the next thirty poems bring.
It is a powerful poem.
I found the honking a wonderfully effective thread running through the poem. The first stanza made me think of what is fast becoming an epidemic among humans, particularly the young: delegating not merely hard work but increasingly ordinary thinking to AI. Are we looking at the prospect of humans being reduced to a gaggle of geese, honking away aimlessly under the watchful eye of AI?
The second stanza initially left me wondering about its intent, until the red cap/white truck struck me as distinctly American political shorthand: the red cap evoking MAGA, and the honk acquiring a darker, more menacing character amid hostility towards the drag star. The wish to “throw light into their eyes” then becomes a striking answer to that darkness.
And finally, the honk travels inward. The anxieties are suddenly personal: a sick mother, a sick brother, panic. I particularly loved how that panic “creases into / a paper goose” small enough to be carried in a pocket, still honking, but now gently. From the noisy gaggle at the dirty pond to that little paper goose in the pocket, the honk changes meaning and volume beautifully.
Thank you for such a thoughtful look at this poem. I think it may be one of my better ones, and I’m glad you got all the ways I was using honk to tie in those different moments. I sometimes forget not everyone knows of the MAGA movement, but it’s indeed what I was referring too. It’s a dark time in our country right now for so many reasons.
It’s certainly one of your more powerful poems. Every country has its darker moments from time to time. Let me just say this: the relentless hunger for votes is turning democracy into an increasingly unbearable institution.
Agreed. Money is really the root of all this, greed and deep pockets. I don’t know how we combat it.
Throwing light is much more interesting than throwing fireballs.
Have you read the light series by Brian Weeks that ends in “Black Prism”? I’m reminded of that for some reason.
Yeah, they deserve so much more, really. I haven’t read that series, but I’ll check it out. Thank you!
The magic system is light/prism based. It was interesting. You can probably find a synopsis unless you’re looking for some eye candy. It wasn’t a bad series, but the story probably didn’t need 5 or 6 books to get from point A to B, if you know what I mean.
I do know what you mean, but I’ll definitely get the first one and check it out. I love that idea for a magic system.
love this photo
& your poetry is wonderful, Bridgette!
I look forward to each day’s post💛🫶
That’s so kind of you, Steph! Thank you.
I missed the political reference. Glad I read all the comments. Even with that, I liked this one even more than most. The honking of the geese, coming around to the paper goose…throwing rainbow light into their eyes…the drag star…it’s all very, very nice. I wish I could better express how much I like this one.
Aww, thank you. I think something might have shifted for me. Maybe. It feels like my poems are starting to find a voice that’s entirely mine.