2015 Sound Poem Project Day 14: The Woodcock's Mating Song

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Lovebirds chocolate heart
from Kakawa Chocolate House in Santa Fe.

Today is Day 14 of Author Amok's 2015 poem-a-day project. We are spending February writing in response to sounds.  We're going to the birds, with three bird-related prompts in a row.

For a full description of the project and how to participate, please read this post. I hope you'll join us. I'll continue posting poems from Day 14 as they come in. Thanks to everyone who has sent in poems so far. It's a joy to read all of your responses to these sound prompts!

I pulled all of your suggestions for sound-prompts in random order, so chalk this one up to serendipity…

Our Valentine’s Day (Day 14) prompt is a male woodcock’s mating song, which is a combination of a call, a sound made with his feathers, and a dance. Thanks to Buffy Silverman for suggesting this sound-prompt.

Diane Mayr of Random Noodling has an enthusiastic little woodcock. What fun sounds in this poem!

A Doodle Ado!
by Diane Mayr

A saucy young
woodcock
dipsy-doodles
his way through
a boggy thicket.

He has come
in expectation
of canoodling
oodles of lady
timberdoodles.

Hoop-dee-doodle!

And Patricia VanAmburg is focusing on his mate.

Flight Pattern

By Patricia VanAmburg

Woodhen’s heart is atwitter

Woodcock high in the sky

Too soon she’ll be a sitter

For fledglings learning to fly

Mike Ratcliffe’s poem is in the voice of some saucy, sassy woodhens.

The Woodhen Mocks
by Mike Ratcliffe

Yeah, I see you over there,
struttin’ around all stiff-legged.
You think you’re somethin’
but I saw you up there in the air.
You call that a dance?
I’ve seen turkeys spiral up better than you.
Hey, I’m gonna call you "Rock,"
’cuz that’s how you fell.
You’re suppose to fall like a leaf,
all graceful and floatin’ gently,
but the way you came down—Rock. 
No wonder you’re walkin’ so stiff.
Yeah, you may have the call down,
mimicking one of them fine woodcocks, 
but honey, you ain’t foolin’ none of us girls.

Focusing on a bird’s wing-sounds, rather than its call, reminded me of something that happened when I was in Albuquerque last week. I borrowed the rhythm and structure of William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow” to give this poem a lightness and to help me focus on the imagery.

Tent Rocks, New Mexico

By Laura Shovan

Hiking the slot

canyons

with my friend,

stillness.

A raven

above,

wings beating

the air

was the only

sound.

Slot canyon at Tent Rocks.

The tent rocks were formed by a long-ago volcano.

Linda Baie’s woodcock is coaching his son on that first time out wooing the girls.

Dad’s Advice: Follow The Woodcock

First the flight display:

bicep mindset.

Like the woodcock’s trill:

Old Spice, nice.

Then the buzzing peent:

Levi’s 501, son.

Done.

Linda Baie © All Rights Reserved

And Linda wishes us all Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's one more flighty Valentine from Charles Waters.

THE COMMAND

This camouflaged

Dollop of bird,

 Feathered in charcoal,

Cinnamon and silver

Buzzes out of his

Needle shaped beak,

Searching for

 A date on

Valentine’s Day.

(c) Charles Waters 2015 all rights reserved.

Here are all of the sound prompts for the third week of February. As promised, I included a couple of sounds from New Mexico:

Sunday, February 15

Video of Santa Fe's Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi by Jennifer Lewis.

Monday, February 16
Read more about this sound here.

Tuesday, February 17

Wednesday, February 18 
Recommended by Michelle Heidenrich Barnes of Today's Little Ditty

Thursday, February 19

Friday, February 20 
Follow the link to choose your reptile.

Saturday, February 21

You'll need to turn the volume high to hear this one.

If you'd like some poem-starters to wake up your muse, you'll find them at the bottom of this post. Drop in any time with a poem. I’ll continue to post your work throughout the month, no matter which sound you are writing in response to.

Would you like to read what we’ve written so far? Here are links to the week 2 poems. You can find links to the week 1 poems on all of these posts:

Sunday, February 8

Sound of Waves Poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Linda Baie, Laura Shovan, Margaret Simon, and Charles Waters.

Monday, February 9

Bubbling Cauldron Poems by Diane Mayr, Charles Waters, Laura Shovan, and Buffy Silverman.

Tuesday, February 10

Fireworks Poems by Charles Waters, Diane Mayr, and Laura Shovan.

Wednesday, February 11

Classic Typewriter Sound Poems by Patricia VanAmburg, Diane Mayr, Charles Waters, Mike Ratcliffe, and Laura Shovan.

Thursday, February 12

Mockingbird Poems by Linda Baie, Mike Ratcliffe, Laura Shovan, Charles Waters, and Margaret Simon.

Friday, February 13

Cape Eagle Owl Call Poems by Linda Baie, Patricia VanAmburg, Charles Waters, and Diane Mayr.

Saturday, February 14

Male Woodcock Mating Call Poems  -- Today!

Poetry Postcard 30: A Love Story

Happy Valentine's Day, postcard fans! Heart Day at the Shovan house is a low-key affair. It falls between several more important January/February holidays, namely: every single birthday in the household, including the dog's (2/17).

I hope Cupid aims well and is kind to you today. Love comes in many forms, including this one:

Cartoon Boy Meets Cartoon Girl

You have no lips to kiss or speak.

I have no ears to listen.

Let me lean on this picket fence,

watch you hover

over a loop of jump rope,

your braids drawn up

by bat-winged ribbons.

You cannot see my baseball cap

or read my cautious expression.

Your lashes fell a moment before

the cartoonist imagined us.

But I will wait. The next panel,

with your fluttering lids, must come.

The artist -- would he leave us

forever like this?

Laura Shovan

Postcard Information:

PUB FOR ASHEVILLE POST CARD CO., ASHEVILLE, N. C.

A “COLOURPICTURE” PUBLICATION

Poetry Postcard 43: Happy Birthday, Robbie!

I am skipping ahead to Poetry Postcard 43. Why? To wish a happy 16^th birthday to our son and eldest child, Robbie.

Robbie and cousin Caspian (age 1). All you parents
of teen boys know, photos of the kid are not
easy to come by. Most of them look like this:

because teenage boys are
masters at the art of avoiding photographs.
Remember "How not to be seen?"

I wish my scanner were working this morning so I could show you what a cute baby he was, and how the nurses put Valentines in his hospital bassinet.

I was planning to write an occasional poem for Valentine’s Day today. I had a vintage Valentine’s postcard all set. (Thanks for the donation, Linda Baie!)

But my poetry gut got all tingly when I read what was printed on the back of the card: THIS SIDE FOR CORRESPONDENCE.

A few weeks after I started the Poetry Postcard Project, I took an old mini-album off the bookshelf. Instead of photographs, we’ve kept years of postcards in the album’s sleeves.

Some of the postcards date to before Rob and I married, 1991. The most recent cards date from the late 2000s. They come from all over the U.S. and several countries. They were sent to us by friends and family.

Postcards sent from (clockwise) Aruba, Hawaii, Tennessee, and Australia.

Reading through the messages on the cards, I was surprised that many go beyond the standard “Wish you were here,” sentiment. Some are funny. Some are lyrical. Others refer to specific events in our lives.

Guided by the phrase, “This Side for Correspondence,” I began pulling sentences and greetings from various postcards into a found poem. It wasn’t until I read a mention of Robbie’s impending birth that the theme of my poem came together. That focus allowed me to figure out which pieces of the poem would stay and what could go.

This Side for Correspondence:

Postcards “Found” on My Son’s 16^th Birthday

Dear Ones,

Greetings from Aruba.

We are alive & well.

The food is good. So glad

we are here, but miss you.

It’s really as beautiful here

as the picture depicts.

Balmy breezes, the smell

of jasmine in the evening.

The way people

get still and quiet

watching the sun setting.

There are a lot

of cranky babies here.

You sure you want

to go through with this?

Laura Shovan

And here are the cards I borrowed from, sent from my brother Jason Dickson, friends Jenna and Ron Olson, and two from my mother, Pauline Dickson. Thanks for helping me out on this one, gang!

"So glad we are here. But miss you."

"Dear Ones... Balmy breezes, the smell of jasmine in the evening,
the way people get still & quiet watching the sun setting."

"It's really as beautiful here as the picture depicts...
There are a lot of cranky babies here --
you sure you want to go through with this?"

"We are alive & well.... The food is good."

I like the way the stillness my mother wrote about from Hawaii balances with my friend Jenna's half-joking concerns about the potentially cranky baby on his way to us. (You can read the postcard poem written for my daughter's birthday here.)

Robbie is already thinking ahead to college, so I'm going to enjoy these birthdays while he is still at home. I am looking forward to Robbie's favorite things tonight: pizza and a rich chocolate cake. If I'm lucky, I'll get a hug. And maybe a photograph.

Postcard Information:

THIS SIDE FOR CORRESPONDENCE.

Series No. 2425 PRINTED IN GERMANY

THE ADDRESS TO BE WRITTEN ON THIS SIDE.