Following the shore, we pace
out spring. Ring-billed
gulls stitch-swoop the sky.
The kingfisher threads
through the growing stand
of sailboat masts, rattles
a warning.
Bare-shouldered townsfolk
pushing strollers, dog walkers
are also drawn to the lake’s
mirror. Carrying Tim Horton’s,
Starbuck’s cups.
Is that a loon? A young couple asks
as we point binoculars, my husband’s
long lens, at its sleek black head.
I nod, hoping to foster a love
of birds.
Two plastic coffee cup lids
roll away like forgotten
frisbees.
Where the early loon glides
among still empty boat slips
hunks of ragged styrofoam bob
and plastic water bottles,
an orange traffic cone.
In the corner of the harbour
near the life-saving ring, a mallard
floats upside down. Is that a plastic
six-pack yoke throttling
its bottle green throat?
Last fall, a loon
washed up on the beach.
A hook poked through its
white necklace, maw gaping
with a thrown back fish.
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Kate Rogers won first place in the 2023 subTerrain magazine Lush Triumphant Contest for her five-poem suite, “My Mother’s House.” Her poetry also recently appeared in Where Else? An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology. Kate’s poems have been published in such notable journals as World Literature Today; Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and the Windsor Review. Homeless City, a chapbook co-authored with Donna Langevin, launched in the first week of January 2024. Kate’s most recent poetry collection is The Meaning of Leaving. She is Director of Art Bar, Toronto’s oldest poetry reading series. More at: katerogers.ca/
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Photo courtesy of Kate Rogers.
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The Litter I See Project 