“Loon” by David Carpenter

You are Daffy Duck’s scary cousin
you inhabit the littoral zones of the lake
where you and I compete for the fish
you inhabit our nights   our drifting sleep

oily greenblack head and coalblack beak
surfaces beside our canoe
like a submarine at the yacht club
oh for a beak like that

you swim huge beneath the raft
red-eyed and monstrous in your world
Jim Carrey in a wet tuxedo
oh for a beaker full

knifing through the boreal wind
you invite mimicry with javelins
heatseeking missiles moon rockets
is this why you laugh at us

oh necklaced yodeller   flautist for the moon
dark falsetto berserk with longing
a voice to make a soprano or a loonstruck poet
mumble into the pillow

crooner manic as the copper moon
your tremolo carries so far across the lake
you make mournful seem like fun
oh for a beaker full of the cold North

you make a yearning fool of me who aspires
to speak mouth to beak with you
maybe play some licks with you
learn a few of your tricks