Sara Teasdale, for August at Real Toads

Today Kerry introduced members of the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads to the poet Sara Teasdale, who was born August 8, 1884. Considered a "lightweight" by many serious poetry critics, she wrote lovely verses about many topics that inspired her.
Poets at the Garden have been asked to write something inspired by Teasdale's work. I have chosen her poem The Flight, about which there appears to be some controversy online, as I've seen two different versions of it.
I have chosen to think of it as the flight of a pair of bald eagles, those magnificent birds so recently removed from the endangered species list. The very talented Vancouver photographer Christian Sasse has shared many of his eagle photos on Facebook via the Hancock Wildlife Foundation (and some he's shared himself) but although Christian's photos are indeed spectacular, I've chosen two from Wikimedia Commons to accompany:

The Second Flight

the eagle calls
to his mate.
she responds
but continues
to fish.
the eagle calls
once more
"come, we must fly!"

Photos from
Wikimedia Commons

his mate
again responds,
yet remains
where she is.
the eagle calls
to his mate
who finally replies
(are you ready for this?)
"my flight is late"




Apologies to Kerry, to the Imaginary Garden, and to the memory of Sara Teasdale, from Kay Davies (another lightweight in the poetry department).

Most of you know I seldom write serious poetry and I wasn't ready to begin today. However, I take wildlife protection seriously, as well as the memory of our late friend Richard Pitt, who was instrumental in getting the streaming video cameras up the trees and operating for the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, headquartered near my home town of White Rock, BC.
David Hancock also published my father's third book, a guide to catching fish in the rivers of British Columbia. Like the eagles, my dad lived to fish. Like many other sport fishermen, he was also an avid conservationist.