Canada Geese in Autumn

Ring Around the Basin is adding a poem to the shared love for Canada geese and how these majestic birds affect our communities and our hearts. May we soar with them.

They gather to feast on stubble after harvest.
They spiral by the thousands in dusky light
To settle in safe pastures for the night.
Watching them slowly circle downward, 
Gliding on wings curved in a graceful arc,
I stand by the road, spellbound.

Through August, they practice flying in formation.
Honking orders, they train stragglers to stay in line
Or say goodbye to those who fly their separate ways.
Sometimes they simply fly from pond to pond
As if contemplating their arduous migration.
In time, their instinctive urge pushes them
To remember long forgotten road maps.
Not all will follow this ancient tradition.

Some winter over, enjoying our salubrious climate.
There is enough food, plenty of unfrozen wetlands,
And places to nestle with life-long mates.
Icy temperatures warrant their need for fat bodies,
Yet warm enough to allow the birth of calves
And eagles' feasting upon placentas.
All that wild mayhem storms around the geese
As they tuck their heads under wings to sleep.

The humans adore them resting in the parks.
Children chase them or lean against mothers' legs
When they meet, eye-to-eye, with one strolling by.
The geese do no harm, but instead are calm
And patient, enchanting us with their serenity.
Even the County defends them if someone
Complains about the mess upon the lawns.
Stay on the trails, they are told,
Or pay heed to where you step.
Such folk needn't bother with bold assertions
Or delusions of pristine towns.
We love our geese. Leave them alone.

All photos by Sue Cauhape

"Autumn Walks" by Brooklyn Swenson 

It seems Canada geese have taken hold of a few other Substackers. Jason McBride of Weird Poetry

has produced beautiful haiku comics devoted to Canada geese.

On Nov. 5, 2024, Switter's World

and Candace Rose Rardon's Dandelion Seeds shared Mary Oliver's poem, Wild Geese. Here is a video of Mary Oliver reading her poem.  

If you enjoyed this post feel free to explore other poems, essays, and stories in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. I also love to read your comments, so please share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation. And if you wish to support my writings, please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s now only $50/year. Even better, I would appreciate it if you could share Ring Around the Basin with your friends. Thank you!

All my books, Paradise Ridge, When the Horses Come and Go, and Ghost in the Forest are currently available on Kindle. Ghost in the Forest, is also available in paperback for ten bucks. Paradise Ridge is out-of-print, but the Kindle version is re-edited and better quality. Hard copies of “When the Horses Come and Go” are gone unless that dusty box in the corner still has some.

Book Review of Ghost in the Forest:

E.R. Flynn, Illustrator, Cartoonist, Storyteller and Creator of "Escape from Clowntown Comics" here on Substack.

"Ghost in The Forest" is a great read! Take note People. If you love stories about environmentalism and nature, its clash with urban mindsets, as well as personal transformation, this is the book for you!

"Ghost in The Forest" is a quick 126-page read. It's the story of Dori, a woman trapped in a mix of grief over parental loss and refusing to accept how her hometown and her friends have changed over the years. Because of this, Dori has become a recluse and a self-imposed misanthrope who finds more comfort amongst the hiking trails around her hometown of Morristown than in her dealings with the raw reality of other humans.

The book, in some ways, resembled Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” in that the story follows a protagonist's love of nature and angst about humans encroaching on it. In this case, it’s how Morristown is transforming into a mountain biking destination where cyclists run rampant on trails and nature.

However, a tragedy involving said mountain biking becomes a major pivot point for Dori, leading to a series of events that eventually bring about personal evolution and discovery.

If you're a nature lover, this book is a must-read. It beautifully portrays the clash between environmentalism and urban mindsets and the journey of personal transformation. The book's vivid descriptions of nature and the protagonist's love for it will surely intrigue you.

Paradise Ridge Review by western author D. B. Jackson:

If you draw circle roughly around an area that includes northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and southern Idaho, within that circle exists a culture and people who live a lifestyle largely untouched by modern values. These are the "buckaroos" and Basque characters author Sue Cauhape brings to life in her literary novel, "Paradise Ridge".

Leandro, the illegitimate seventh son of patriarch Xavier Arriaga and his mistress, Gisela, is at the center of this intriguing story that travels exceedingly successfully at both the personal level of the characters, as well as the compelling level where the story is told.

Cauhape writes in a literary style that reminds me of Annie Poulx. Paradise Ridge, on the surface, appears to be an upscale Western novel...once inside the pages, you will soon discover a potential classic waiting to be discovered.

I rated this book a 5...because that's all the stars there were.