Wednesday, April 1, 2009

spring observations

The lovely weather is appreciated by the ducks in the North Fork of the Kentucky River flowing by my office/classroom building. The view from my office window inspired this little haiku.

bottoms up

wiggling tail feathers,
teal heads, dunk, dunk, scooping food
from muddy bottom.

©sgreerpitt
April 1, 2009

6 comments:

Qaro said...

Sounds like a beautiful view. I used to have a tree outside my office, it was nice.

Deborah Godin said...

That's a lovely little poem about a favorite pasttime - watching ducks dabble. I could almost feel the warmth of the day!

(I'll bet with 9 cats more than a few would dig honeysuckle! Of my 4 only one seems to be able to take it or leave it. And I agree, it's very frustrating when TV networks pit popular shows against each other. Last night I had to stay up 2 hours past normal bedtime in order to catch Life and Lost, but there was nothing I wanted to see between 9 and midnite. Grrr!!!)

SandyCarlson said...

That's a delightful piece. We are richly fed when we dig a little. I love the imagery here and the possibilities.

Quiet Paths said...

This is a really nice haiku - I love the first line because it immediately takes you there; it sounds like you have a very nice view. Is it a large fork of the river? Do you ever paddle it yourself?

sgreerpitt said...

hi, Christine, thanks. Where I live, Letcher County, on the far eastern border of Kentucky is the source (headwaters) of the North Fork of the Kentucky River, so except after a heavy rain the river is not deep enough for "paddling." Unfortunately due to coal mining run off and the exitence still today of "straight pipe" the river is not safe for humans to enter -- no wading or swimming or boating allowed. One wonders at times how long the ducks are likely to survive!

Quiet Paths said...

Sue, thanks for the background info on the river. Sounds like a clean up campaign is in order. We have a Superfund site on the Clark Fork about 50 miles from us. It's been going on for many years but they are finally nearing completion. Maybe the Kentucky or North Fork is next? It would employ lots of workforce!