Your Daily Poem

This site exists for one purpose only: to help dispel the ugly and absolutely untrue myth that poetry is boring. Granted, a lot of poetry is boring, but you won't find it here. At Your Daily Poem, you'll find poetry that is touching, funny, provocative, inspiring, uplifting, and surprising. It may punch you in the gut, it may bring tears to your eyes, it may make you laugh out loud, but it most assuredly will not bore you!

Poetry on YDP—by poets living and long dead, famous to completely unknown--is specially selected for accessibility and appeal. Thanks so much for visiting—and remember: a poem a day keeps the doldrums away!

Stopping to Watch the Geese
by
Pat Hale

The geese walk in the wet grass,
place each foot carefully, and with grace.
They move with deliberation,
like a class of pregnant ballerinas
on a poorly lit stage. Each step matters;
each step a demonstration of unlikely
balance. Toe-shoed acrobatics
are no more marvelous than this subtle
collaboration of torpedo body
and bone-thin legs. The murmuring
of the geese provides no hint
of the coming clatter, the horn solos
to herald their skyward congregation.
In their scuffling for food, no notion
of the efficiency of their flying
V-formation, or the perfect generosity
with which they will share
the burden of slicing through the air,
while back on stage, the ballet dancers
bear the weight of their female partners,
and can only wonder what it is like
to be the one suspended, the one in flight.

Pat Hale lives in Connecticut where, lately, she's spending lots of time at home (courtesy of the pandemic) watching the squirrels and rabbits outside her windows, and discovering the wealth of animal videos online. Pat is the author of a poetry collection, Seeing Them with My Eyes Closed, and a chapbook, Composition and Flight.

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Darrell Arnold:
". . .The murmuring of the geese provides no hint of the coming clatter, the horn solos to herald their skyward congregation. . ." Excellent descriptive phrasing.
Posted 07/06/2025 02:38 PM

Larry Schug:
One "can only wonder" about just about everything-- including geese. It's part of the poet's work to help us along this path. Good work Pat. Thanks
Posted 07/06/2025 08:29 AM

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