Notes from Milwaukee

Inexplicably, two pairs of Canada geese choose to nest on the Pleasant Street bridge. Topping short ornamental towers, gargoyle like, they imprecate passersby, lift slender tongues like stamens of black lilies, like blades concealed in the wrong end of an assassin's cane. I brave road rather than sidewalk, cars over proximity to each hard-eyed goose. From depths of smogged water, a great fish rises, long as my arm. At leisure, he samples air near the surface, lingers almost in reach. Fins ripple, large as my palm, furl like fabric in a gentle breeze. He basks in his world's liquid wind. We see walls, the expert said, they see canyons. We see an industrialized river, they see home. Every morning on my way to work, barn swallows snip air, sheer clean curves and precise angles, work clean as a bright pair of scissors in and out and under the bridge. Their bodies are effortless, an ebullience, iridescent and orange.

This tower was built to house a huge water pipe. I marvel at the beauty of this structure, which could seem entirely unnecessary but enriches passersby today as it has for over a hundred years. Changes of light on Lake Michigan Glimpses Eye of the Octopus Behemoth Warm and celebratory interlude Signs Marsupial Bridge City tulips and the cold spring

"Hear that?" At the bottom of Sheepwash Hill, Mom lifts her cell phone. "The peepers. Can't you hear them?" For seven generations we shared these songs in timber land near Crooked Creek. I press hot plastic between palm and ear. Through speaker's rasp, I strain to discern the singing snore, ascending criiick , throbbing purr a'thruming . . . so distant, and maybe only static. Little wonder our newborns crave maternal heartbeats against their apricot ears-- being selved so suddenly outside of most beloved sound. For the reader-- What sounds have shaped your experiences? Do you still hear those sounds in your everyday life, or have you--or they--moved? How does proximity to beloved places and/or people affect you? How have you navigated times of changing connections? I'd love to hear your thoughts if you want to share them in the comments. If you have work of your own that connects to these ideas, feel free to post a link. Poem