Her goslings the pale yellowish green
of new grass shoots
Like an emerging daffodil petal
Or the first leaf peeping
from a bud on a tree
When they leave the umbrella
of their mother’s wings
Their down feathers glisten like drops
of dew in the sun
The way they line up behind her
in a rite of spring parade
Come night, the way she
runs off a fox with the terrible flap
of those same wings
The way a woman lifts
a Volkswagen off her child
Ellaraine Lockie is widely published and awarded as a poet, nonfiction book author and essayist. Tripping with the Top Down is her thirteenth chapbook. Earlier collections have won Poetry Forum’s Chapbook Contest Prize, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival Chapbook Competition, Encircle Publications Chapbook Contest, Best Individual Poetry Collection Award from Purple Patch Magazine in England Competition, and the Aurorean’s Chapbook Choice Award. Ellaraine teaches writing workshops and serves as Poetry Editor for the lifestyles magazine, Lilipoh.
Photographer’s Note: I used the literal imagery of a strong mother figure, guiding and teaching her young, ready to use unimaginable strength to fiercely protect them from any harm.