The goslings - Tall tales Thursdays - fact to fiction

I waited weeks for them,
I waited by the willow as it wept for winter's last hurrah,
I waited by the pond as ripples spread near the edge,
I waited under the footbridge, searching for Mother Goose,
I found nothing, yet still I waited,
I waited through sunshine, rain, clouds.

Teens came in droves to the high school,
They seemed so unformed,
these near-adults, about to fly the coop,
To run off to college, testing their wings.

The day after graduation, the seniors drove in a caravan in front of the high school,
Showing their mettle, honking their horns like 10,000 noisy geese,
That was the day Mr. and Mrs. Goose had strut across the road,
In front of 250 newly-minted high school graduates,
And Mr. and Mrs. Goose brought 6 tiny grey goslings, trying to cross the road.

The first senior stopped honking, the second senior stopped
Soon the third, fourth, fifth stopped honking their horns,
as they waited for the goslings to cross.

These fledgling adults waited as 6 tiny goslings
and their two grown parents, crossed the road, very, very slowly.

The sun passed in front of a cloud and a shadow darkened the high school.
Then fingers of sunlight brightened the 6 tiny grey goslings
and the 250 newly minted high school graduates.

Everyone was silent.

The 6 tiny grey goslings and their two grown parents crossed the road.
The 250 ewly minted high-school graduates cheered.

There was such a din, this honking of horns, the seniors proclaiming their new-found independence that the geese joined in,
hink honk, hink honk, hink honk, hink honk, as I drove all the way home.

***

I did see the seniors honk in a caravan, as they do on their last day of school. I did see the goslings grow and cross the road but not on the day the seniors graduated.  That was poetic license.

Revised  from 2007.

Copyright  © 2007, 2008 Kathryn Esplin-Oleski