It’s another month, so that means a new challenge for the Sunday Night Poetry Swaggers. This month I posed the challenge of writing a question poem.
I had some pretty feeble starts at this one, but one day last week I was inspired by the very thing happening in our wood duck house. Last year we put up a wood duck house around this time of year, but the first clutch never hatched. We are watching through a Ring doorbell camera attached to the roof of the nest box.
We have another hen. She’s been sitting since February 24th, so projected hatch date is somewhere between March 16th and 18th. I have a good feeling about this hen. Even though we’ve had some cool nights, she sits all night and leaves once in the morning and once in the evening to feed. When she leaves, she completely covers the clutch with down, so we really have no idea how many eggs she is sitting on. We learned our lesson last year, so we will Not be going out there to check.
Stay tuned. In the meantime, my question poem.
Will She Come Again?
It’s February and we wonder
will she come again,
this wood duck mother hen?Will she find the house we’ve built?
a box, like a cypress quilt,
waiting to be a home.In the morning we look and see.
Papa wood duck, where is she?
Where’s your mate? Is she about?Connected to our house WiFi,
we keep a daily eye,
a camera on the nestbox roof.She’s in, then out, then in again,
this mother wood duck hen.
Will she lay a clutch?How many eggs? It’s hard to tell.
She covers them all so well.
Plucks her down, soft and warm.How does she know how?
Margaret Simon, (c) 2020
Waiting, watching, wondering now
for twenty-eight more days.
Will wood duck chicks hatch from this downy haze?
Read more question poems from my writing pals:
Reflections on the Teche 
[…] Molly Hogan at Nix the Comfort Zone Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche […]
I love this, Margaret. So many mysteries in our own backyards! I’ll be watching your Facebook posts to find out how many chicks your mama wood duck hatches.
I love your question poem and can’t wait to learn the answers! What a beautiful duck!
I love the bounce of your poem, Margaret, like a child asking, then asking more, on & on. I’m hopeful for this year’s hatch! This is exciting!
My favorite *uestion in this poem full of good ones is “How does she know how?” Isn’t it wonderful how nature knows how to do its thing without having to ask? Perfect form for this one, too.
I’m still in love with the cypress quilt…I just imagine being snuggled up in the wonderful clean scent of cypress. And, I like what you’ve done with the last line! Works beautifully. Now I’m on duck watch too! Your last stanza really resonates with the person I was when facing infertility. That watching, waiting….without being able to control anything about it.
I hadn’t made that connection. Glad it resonated with you.
What a lovely poem, Margaret. I’m looking forward to hearing more after they hatch.
Sweet photo and poem, Margaret. I love the questions you ask. “Will she come again,/ this wood duck mother hen?”
How exciting! All those questions in your poem really heighten the anticipation! Looking forward to the good news poem when you write one later this month. 🙂
Lucky you with your wood ducks! I’m such a duck enthusiast that one sister-in-law calls me a duck stalker! (Clearly she overstates! Ahem!) I love the poem… great rhythm.
I love your question poem. Thanks for the pic of the wood duck. I don’t know if we have them around here. We’ll be patiently waiting for an update and hoping this clutch hatches.
Margaret, I am fascinated by your wood duck story and look forward to the hatching. In the meantime, your poem gets me prepared for the baby arrivals
I didn’t realize that wood ducks were so beautiful! I hope your hen gets a happy result from all her sitting.
I love how you found inspiration for this question poem from the nature in your own back yard. I’m quite fond of the line “waiting to be a home.” It says so much in so few words. I’m so excited to follow along with your wood duck adventures this year!
I love your wood duck updates. Keep ’em coming! And so many wonder-filled questions they inspire. Excited to see you’ll be hosting the progressive poem this year. Have I missed the sign up? Fingers crossed not! Cheers!
I love this! Questions and rhyme! I really like your simile, “a box, like a cypress quilt, waiting to be home.” Your poem shows your excitement and worry about the wood duck. I didn’t realize how pretty they are.