THE DECLENSION OF 'LOON'

This poem (of sorts) is the result of the intersection of two events – one was a dear friend from the foothills calling to ask me to translate a short phrase into Latin for her so she could paint it on a river rock as a gift for her sister, and the other was hearing a loon out on the lake rather early the following morning. As a result of the first, I had to dust off my old study books. Hui—it’s been a long time! And Latin is very fussy, for a dead language. For the second event, I had to put a rain-jacket on over my nightie (not complete coverage) and head out with my binoculars. The call was so distant and my ear so sleepy, I thought at first it might be a red-bellied woodpecker, but once I stood at the edge of the breakwall, one ear to the trees behind me, and one to the open lake, the call was unmistakably coming from far out on the rain-shrouded water, and unquestionably a loon. The process of hearing and identifying the call kind of reminded me of the Latin declensions I’d recently reviewed for my friend. I’m not exactly sure it qualifies as a poem. Maybe it’s just a wonky Latin exercise made up by a damp, yawning, under-caffeinated birdwatcher…

nom: A loon is calling in the morning rain
gen: A loon’s laughter is tumbling across the quiet lake
dat: I searched for the loon through binoculars
acc: I listened to the loon with rapt attention, longing to be
abl: let in on the joke by the loon but alas—
voc: O loon! What’s so funny; is it my bare white legs shining on the shore?