Agoozimakakiig Idiwag (What the Peepers Say)
A poem by Margaret Noodin from the book, What the Chickadee Knows
As a representation of alliterative formalism in Ojibwe poetry this poem appeared in the Forgotten Ground Regained issue number five in the winter of 2025.
The poem is about agoozimakakiig (spring peepers) who grow cold with their surroundings because some of their body fluids can freeze and then thaw again in spring. They are a traditional signal of seasonal change as they begin to call out to each other.
In the Ojibwe version of the poem below the last line repeats the verb “biibaagi” and changes at the end of each stanza using different verb endings to show the way the sound moves first from an exchange between all of us not including the listener, to all of us including the listener; then second a call from me to you; then third a call from you to me; and finally all of us calling out as individuals and then all of us calling together.

Agoozimakakiig Idiwag
Ishkwaa biboon bii’omigag
gaawiin geyabi aabita-
nibwaakaamashkawajisiiwaad
biibaagiyaang ani biibaagiyang.
Naami-zaasijiwanagek
agoozimakakiig gii ningiziyang
mii noopimidoodeyang mashkiigong
biibaagiyaan ani biibaagiyan.
Dibishkoo didibaashkaa
zhaabwibiisaag zoogipoog
ziigwang ziibiskaaj miidash
biibaagiyan ani biibaagiyaan.
Epichii maadaa’ogoyang basweweyang
beshoganawaabmigag aawiyang
waasaganawaabmigag aawiyang
biibaagiyang ani biibaaginidiyaang.

What the Peepers Say
After the winter waiting
no longer half-
frozen by design
our calling becomes all calling.
Under the rippling bark
peepers have thawed
to crawl into the swamp where
my calling becomes your calling.
A seismic seiche
a synaptic snowstorm
of springtime repetition and
your calling becomes my calling.
As we drift away on our echoes
we are the details
we are the distance and
all calling becomes our calling.