The Call
by Nancy Vandenburgh
Poetry
I listen
to your answering machine’s
distinct message
and hear the haunting call of loons
recorded during your research.
I look at your photographs
of manmade floating nests
the young riding on the back of a parent
see the white necklace on the adult’s black neck
and its bright summer red eyes.
You watch them dive
then surface in a different place.
Silvered water droplets glisten
on black and white feathers.
You swim near them and they watch you.
The beep sounds.
My thoughts and memories fly.
I leave this message:
Come back east to this northern lake
where our loons are calling.
We’ll sit by the shore to look
and listen.
Getting to know the Poet
Nancy Vandenburgh (Milton, VT), a retired biology teacher and administrative assistant at The University of Vermont’s Graduate College, is an active member of a local poetry group and The Poetry Society of Vermont. Her poems have been published in The Mountain Troubadour and The Lyric. A self-made video of two poems appeared on WCAX-TV’s Across The Fence for the PSOV’s fortieth anniversary. Her inspiration comes from nature, events, relationships, and her own experiences.
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Other work by Nancy Vandenburgh
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