POETRY

On the Appalachian Wild Turkey
Or, a Little Capitalist Ditty Hillbillies Learn the Hour We Are Born

By Rebecca Gayle Howell     Reprinted with permission from University of Georgia Press
Vertical Divider
Wild means free—don't it?—to run these seedbed woods
in copperfire skins, to blend in, or a ruckus when we want,
an oracle engine too hot, too gamey, to be pinned.
But still a turkey, which to others, means chump. The one
free soul they see is he who has the gun; it is no choice,
to be shot erect and fed or on impossible wing, still dead.

WILD TURKEY

Meleagris gallopavo

Habitat and Range: Deciduous and deciduous-coniferous forests.

Description and Notes: The wild turkey is a large coppery-bronze bird with a wingspan up to five feet. Males spread and drag their magnificent array of tail feathers to get females’ attention during courtship, a behavior called “strutting.” The male sports fleshy red wattles on its neck and throat, a snood on its beak, and a long beard of feathers that hangs from its breast. Females are drab with no wattles but can grow short beards. Turkeys forage in groups in deciduous woods and clearings, communicating with clucks and purrs. The males' characteristic gobbling is reserved for courtship and territorial matters. Wild turkeys nest in depressions in open deciduous woods or along the margins of woodland. Unlike their domesticated cousins, they can fly.


A Literary Field Guide to
​Southern Appalachia

University of Georgia Press