L Milton Hankins Poet Sonnet

The Woodpecker

Rhythmic tapping outside my window
Bring E. A. Poe’s reflections to my mind,
Hammering an aggravating intrusion
The cause of which I must quickly find.
A red-headed woodpecker hammering
Oblivious to his naturally irksome task,
Worse than my turkey hens yammering
Hardly as deadly as the red death mask.
Poe found his intrusive raven engaging
Subject of one of his memorable poems,
The woodpecker brings no inspiration
A muse of no pleasant verses or hymns,
The reason for my current consternation
It brings out my fiercest exasperation. 

Written June 19, 2022

♡Like0

Share Poem

---

Post Comments

Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.

Please Login to post a comment

Caren Krutsinger June 23, 2022 at 2:22 AM "Worse than my turkey hens yammering" - I used to have a woodpecker, so I can relate but now I have to look up turkey hens to see what they are. L Milton Hankins June 23, 2022 at 7:56 AM They are female turkeys, Caren. The males are called Toms. Did you know the original idea Poe had for "The Raven" was a parrot? I learned this on Jeopardy.

Tom Cunningham June 19, 2022 at 11:51 PM He must have a permanent headache lol. Hope all goes well for your surgery today, will keep you in my prayers. Tom L Milton Hankins June 20, 2022 at 4:34 AM Thank you so much, Tom. I'm sitting here waiting for my ride to the hospital. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Michael Tor June 19, 2022 at 10:10 PM Love the humor in this one Milton. Love the comparison to Poe's poem. Gods blessings... L Milton Hankins June 20, 2022 at 4:35 AM Thank you, Michael. I appreciate your thoughts.

Jennifer Fenn June 19, 2022 at 8:40 PM This made me smile. Thank you for a humorous poem! L Milton Hankins June 20, 2022 at 4:35 AM I'm happy about that. Thanks so much, Jennifer.

Jeff Connelly June 19, 2022 at 6:09 PM L Milton what a joy to read this one. I'm a big Poe fan. I love the continuation of the Poe idea with reference to the mask of the red death. Thanks for this... Jeff Connelly June 20, 2022 at 6:59 AM Thanks L Milton. Every day; hour; minute, and second is wonderful... I hope yours too to be... L Milton Hankins June 19, 2022 at 7:19 PM I'm so happy you enjoyed it, Jeff. I, too, have always enjoyed Poe's work. Thank you for the read and the thoughtful comment. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Gershon Wolf June 19, 2022 at 5:33 PM At least I've got a steady beat! ~ Woody L Milton Hankins June 19, 2022 at 6:06 PM (chuckling) I hope so, gw. It's really important that you do when you're trying to drive someone nuts!!!!

Robert Gorelick June 19, 2022 at 3:46 PM Edgar Allen Poe was actually gonna write about the woodpecker but "Quoth the woodpecker nevermore" just didn't sound right. Excellent, Woody woulda been proud! Robert L Milton Hankins June 19, 2022 at 6:07 PM (LOL) So cool, Robert. Maybe I'll do something to immortalize the woodpecker...who knows???

Ann Foster June 19, 2022 at 3:43 PM I love birds... this was a great read. Ann L Milton Hankins June 19, 2022 at 6:08 PM Me, too, Ann, but I would prefer he would find another place to exercise his...oh, no, I cannot bring myself to write that! Thanks for your comment.