The scrawny baby perched on her father’s shoulders
has bruises on her arms, legs, and face
that are prominent enough to be the focal point
in the old Baby Brownie photo
that is the catalyst for her earliest memory.

I was that child, bearing the battle wounds
Incurred when I made an ill-fated attempt
to toddle up my grandmother’s driveway
when she wasn’t nearby
to call off her avian stormtroopers…

I’ve learned that a pair of enraged geese
protecting their territory
have enough ferocity in their frenetically beating wings
and hammerlike, serrated beaks
to leave a youngster with a lifelong discomfort
when in the company of barnyard fowl
as well as a souvenir scar on the chin.

To this day, the folkloric image of storyteller Mother
gliding through the skies atop a friendly-looking, gray goose
gives me proverbial goosebumps.