Listen to Hootie

Chip Dameron

February 2, 2025

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

         Emily Dickinson

Late night: a great horned owl hoots 

from the field behind the house

once again, after days of silence.

Soon another hooting starts:

a second owl, calling out

to the first. The two hoot back

and forth, then finally go silent.

Early morning, their hooting begins

again, and with hoot hoot hoot

answered by hoot hoot hoot hoot

the night creeps on toward dawn.

Soon a new day illuminates

the great gift we, like the owls,

have been given: life in a world 

of innumerable living things.

If we listen closely we may hear

others calling out to us, looking

to make their lives, and ours, 

more meaningful. Let’s hoot back.

Chip Dameron’s latest book, Relatively Speaking, is a shared collection with Betsy Joseph. A member of the Texas Institute of Letters, he’s also been a Dobie Paisano fellow.