Molly gave the Inklings our December challenge: “Begin with a specific sensory experience (of taste, sight, smell, sound or touch), and see where that leads you.” This is part of a prompt from James Crews’s new book “Unlocking the Heart.” The experience of seeing wild turkeys at Highbanks provided the perfect answer to her challenge.
Here’s what the other Inklings did with this month’s challenge:
Linda @A Word Edgewise
Molly @Nix the Comfort Zone
Margaret @Reflections on the Teche
Heidi @my juicy little universe
(Catherine @Reading to the Core)
Carol has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at The Apples in My Orchard.
The call for hosts for the Poetry Friday roundups in Jan-June 2025 is here.
A(nother) Year of Reading 
Although I am the opposite of indifference, I love their heartening indifference! Sometimes it’s best to be ignored, haha. They are so big, it’s interesting to imagine them roosting. Unexpectedly graceful? Thanks for sharing this spicy-earthy experience with us.
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Spicy-dusty-earthy. YES! Thanks for sharing this moment, Mary Lee. xo
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a proper flock / still a shock
we stop to watch / others walk by
Cleverly done, Mary Lee. I loved these unexpected lines.
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Ohhhh this poem is so rich in delightful detail… I had no trouble at all picturing the scene, and that last stanza hits just right. Thank you!
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I’m glad you shared this wonderful experience, Mary Lee, that part of ‘wild earth’ we don’t often get to see. You brought it to us so wonderfully with “their long-legged scrabbling in the leaf litter/ no performance, just everyday foraging”. Thanks a bunch!
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We see groups of wild turkeys all the time here in the Northwoods, Mary Lee. However, I never thought about writing about them! How creative to use them as your sensory experience. You captured them perfectly, long legs in the leaf litter and all! Thanks for sharing!
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“spicy-dusty-earthy autumn woods”
“their long-legged scrabbling in the leaf litter”
“turkeys soon will roost”
Mary Lee, your words and images have put me here in this urban park with the wild turkeys. Beautiful sensory experience and images. You brought me right there with you.
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This image you build so sensually builds to an exciting point of seeing the turkeys then dims to the moon. A lovely moment you captured!
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That spicy, earth, dusty scent gets me…I love it! But then, the surprise of those turkeys. Wonderful.
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A moment captured perfectly in words! So glad you stopped to watch these wild wonders.
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There are so many wonderful sounds in this poem. It’s a treat to read aloud! I love how nature’s everyday wonders inspired your response to the challenge. Thanks for sharing this delightful morsel of your day (and the turkeys’). I hope to read more about this park…hint, hint!
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Mary Lee, what a fabulous sensory experience you have provided for your readers. The next time the wild turkey visits our community, I shall watch every movement. Your poem is inspiring me to write a sensory poem.
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Love that “long-legged scrabbling.”
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Love all the sensory detail and vivid imagery. I was right there with you! And I can imagine it would be a shock to see those wild turkeys. I also smiled at the thought of their bravery to appear in plain sight so near Thanksgiving. 😀
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I taught 6th graders about poets’ “craft moves” yesterday, and I enjoyed just now seeing how a stanza break–a mere stanza break–can do important work in a poem. Thank you for the compliment of considering my suggestion. It is a beautiful poem about a humble, magical moment.
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Mary Lee, I love how you made your poem wonderful in the use of the senses. You hooked me with “gravel crunches under boots.” You kept reeling in with “spicy-dusty-earthy”, “big rustling in the leaves” and “gleaming black in the evening light.” Then, all the sounds your alliteration, consonance, assonance, rhyme, and repetition made! And I love your build up and anticipation. Wow! I was right there with you and the wild turkeys.
Thank you for sharing your wild turkey experience. I have always love wild turkeys. I have seen them many times while driving, but only once was I fortunate enough to see them while I was walking around our suburban neighborhood, which is near woods. Tom turkey was quickly leading his flock across a street, through backyards, and across another street. Then, my neighbor and I lost them. How I wish I had a smart phone back then.
Oh, your ending is great how you change it up with these lyrical lines:
“turkeys soon will roost /sunset blazes /full moon rises”
Thank you for your inspiration and joy. I love your poem. Would it be all right if I use your poem as a mentor poem in my notebook with a copyright sign near your name? I am happy I stopped by. 🙂
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I’m honored that you think of my poem as a mentor text, and that you would preserve it in your notebook! Thank you!
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