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Poetry Classroom: Killdeer

By Julie L. Moore 2 Comments

Welcome to this month’s poetry classroom, with poet and professor Julie L. Moore. We invite you to respond to the poems we’ll share here—their forms, images, sounds, meanings, surprises—ask questions of Julie and each other, and write your own poems along the way.



Killdeer

If I defer the grief I will diminish the gift. —Eavan Boland

1.

My parents care what happens
to the killdeer whose nest of eggs
rests in their lawn. They worry

about the family in the storms that come.
The four inches of rain that falls in one night,
flooding the roads, the creeks, their yard.

My dad wants to harness the silver-
shingled cover of clouds, the warmth
in their electric touch, the very water.

To keep the mother alive whose cries overflow
the banks of her throat. To defend her unborn
chicks growing cold from exposure.

2.

Beaks poke through,
rip in two the mottled fabric of the eggs.

Emerge. Tender and tentative,
like buds that one morning decide, finally,

to rise from their bed, get dressed.
And then: the fluffing of feathers, the flurry

of squeals. Like kids at a birthday bash, cheering
as the piñata breaks open, spills

sweets. Life is like that.
It tends to celebrate itself.

And my parents run outside to witness
the chicks’ first steps, finding irresistible

the urge to crash the party.

Photo by cuatrok77. Creative Commons, via Flickr. Poem by Julie L. Moore, author of Particular Scandals

_____

Discussion Questions:

1. Do you know anything about killdeer? Do you think it matters, regarding your understanding of the poem? What if the bird had been a robin instead?

2. Have you ever written a poem in parts? What if this poem had been written as one, instead of in two parts? What, if anything, would be lost?

3. In fiction writing, character is often developed through setting and the characters’ actions in relation to the setting. This poem uses the same fiction technique to bring the speaker’s parents into focus. What kind of “characters” are they?

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Julie L. Moore
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Filed Under: Baby Poems, Bird Poems, Blog, Family Poems, Nature Poems, Poems, poetry, poetry teaching resources, Short Poems

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Comments

  1. Donna says

    July 1, 2013 at 7:40 pm

    I don’t really know a thing about killdeer, and for me the poem still speaks to me… like a flurry of squeaks it speaks to me! I love it! I love the way you describe the hatching… from start to finish I can visualize and hear it all. And the two parts make it so interesting…I’m glad you did it that way. After all, they are two distinctly different aspects of this “birthing”… the first part, about your parents and their concern – 3 lines each – more words – more story like – more language. The second part 2 lines – the hatching – more action! more flurry! Really…a pinata… that’s amazing! And here come your parents outside, wanting to crash the party!!! So much fun to read and experience this through your words. Thank you.

    Reply
  2. Julie L. Moore says

    July 4, 2013 at 1:18 pm

    Thank you, Donna! It was a pleasure to arrive home from vacation and see your comment here. I wonder if any other readers feel similarly about not knowing much re: killdeer. How much about such a bird does one need to know to write about it? How much does one need to know to read about it? And how much does the poet need to provide to the reader so she can truly experience the poem rather than just read it?

    Reply

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