DEAR ABBY: In 1991, you printed a letter, followed by a poem, about a man who hunted wild geese. It described a dying male goose and his wounded mate who stayed beside him and covered his body with her broken wing until she, too, died. Please rerun the poem. Thank you in advance. -- CLAIRE LEWIS, DALLAS

DEAR CLAIRE: Here it is. But first, a warning to my readers. Get out your hankies. This piece is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes.

REMORSE

by Truman P. Reitmeyer, Philadelphia

A hunter shot at a flock of geese

That flew within his reach.

Two were stopped in their rapid flight

And fell on the sandy beach.

The male bird lay at the water's edge

And just before he died,

He faintly called to his wounded mate

And she dragged herself to his side.

She bent her head and crooned to him

In a way distressed and wild,

Caressing her one and only mate

As a mother would a child.

Then covering him with her broken wing

And gasping with failing breath,

She laid her head against his breast

A feeble honk -- then death.

This story is true though crudely told.

I was the man in this case.

I stood knee-deep in snow and cold

And the hot tears burned my face.

I buried the birds in the sand where they lay

Wrapped in my hunting coat,

And I threw my gun and belt in the bay

When I crossed in the open boat.

Hunters will call me a right poor sport

And scoff at the thing I did.

But that day something broke in my heart,

And shoot again? God forbid!

DEAR ABBY: I have been dating a woman for two years. Two weeks ago, I gave her an antique silver pin with pearls that had belonged to my mother.

Last week, my girlfriend told me she has also been seeing someone else for several months, and she's in love with him.

Abby, should I ask her to return the pin, and should I expect that she will do so? -- CHRIS IN NEW YORK

DEAR CHRIS: It's worth a try. Offer to replace the pin with one of equal value. However, a gift once given belongs to the recipient. If she refuses, write off the loss as tuition in the school of experience.

To receive a collection of Abby's most memorable -- and most frequently requested -- poems and essays, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby's "Keepers," P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: Though a frequent reader (after my wife), I've only now found reason to write to you, in response to the lady who feared her husband's habit of urinating on their lawn was inappropriate.

So it may be, but the fact remains that all men pee outdoors.

My best to you and continued good luck with your column. -- CHARLTON HESTON, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.

DEAR CHARLTON: Thank you for the input. Your letter is but a drop in the bucket compared to the deluge of mail that has flooded my office since I printed that letter. Read on:

DEAR ABBY: After reading the letter about the woman ("The Whiz-zard's Wife") whose husband urinates in the yard, I had to write. It's what I went through with my ex-husband for 13 years! I pleaded with him to stop, but his answer was that no one could see him because it was dark.

My present husband (now of eight years) did the same thing. He'd be closer to the bathroom in our house and still go out back to urinate in our yard after dark two or three times a week. When I gave him my opinion about it, he'd ignore it.

When we moved to our new home, we had a wooden fence built. I decided to teach him a lesson. When he continued to urinate in the back yard, I decided to do the same. He was shocked! He told me I had better not do it again. I told him that as long as he continued his behavior, I would do the same.

Abby, he has not urinated in our back yard since. Sometimes when they won't listen, you have to SHOW 'em. -- HAPPY WIFE IN FORNEY, TEXAS

DEAR HAPPY WIFE: Congratulations for having curbed your husband's spraying. I was intrigued to discover that some men consider it a form of conservation! Read on:

DEAR ABBY: Marking our territory is only one reason for this age-old tradition.

Boys have long enjoyed distance, accuracy and creative urinary competitions: knocking leaves off the trees in the fall, drawing pictures in the winter snow, protecting young fir trees from hungry deer in the spring, and dousing campfires in the summer months are just a few highlights.

Some may deride this as small-minded male nonsense, but on a global scale, this ritual has significant benefits to our environment. The flush water we save is substantial. At 2.5 gallons per flush, a man urinating outside just once a day will conserve almost 1,000 gallons of water a year. If one-fourth of the men in the United States saved one flush per day, we'd save more than 4.5 billion cubic feet of water per year.

If you consider all the rainfall that's channeled into storm sewers from our streets and parking lots, we're returning valuable moisture to the soil by urinating on our lawns. At just one pint per day, American men could generate enough filtered ground water to cool the hottest passions among Washington, D.C.'s, elite. It would give the term "leak" new meaning. -- NATIVE OREGON STREAMER, TILLAMOOK, ORE.

Good advice for everyone -- teens to seniors -- is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)

DEAR ABBY: I strongly disagree with your answer to "The 'Whiz-zard's' Wife," whose husband urinates in their yard. You said you suspect the practice is not unusual. My husband doesn't do it, and my ex-husband didn't (except once when he was drunk). My father didn't, and I have never seen my neighbors do it. My husband says this guy is an exhibitionist. I say he's lazy and ignorant, despite his college education. My sympathy to his wife, who sounds like a classier lady than the jerk deserves.

However, I once knew a psychiatrist who confessed to occasionally "watering" the rubber tree in his outer office in this manner. I can't imagine why he disclosed this to me, unless it was to coax me into sharing personal secrets. -- ARIZONA ANNIE

DEAR ANNIE: I can't imagine why he did it, either. It could certainly discourage a patient from using the chair closest to the plant. Read on:

DEAR ABBY: If your assessment of territorial urination is correct, that "dogs and cats do it to mark their territory, and the husband may be doing it for the same reason," then my husband has claimed the city of San Francisco from the deck of a hilltop restaurant, as well as many other cities from the balconies of hotels.

If this has to be psychoanalyzed, I would say it's a form of rebellion. It's one of the few things a highly educated, supposedly well-bred man can do today. My only advice to "Whiz-zard's Wife" would be, "Steel yourself -- the worst is yet to come." -- ANONY-MRS. IN MEDFORD, ORE.

DEAR ANONY-MRS.: You may be right. However, while urinating on one's own lawn might be a matter of personal preference, doing it off a hotel balcony could be a public nuisance, particularly to any pedestrian who happened to be below the balcony. Read on:

DEAR ABBY: I just read the letter from the woman whose husband urinates on their front lawn. She asked if this was a "normal male ritual," and you seemed to agree that the practice was not unusual.

I am a male, and I do NOT urinate in my yard. I have never done this, and I don't know anyone who does. I can't think of any time this might be an acceptable practice, unless your front yard is 40 acres and you drive a slow tractor. Perhaps this woman should install a fire hydrant in her front yard and buy a leash.

Your comparison of men to dogs and cats who urinate to mark their territory is degrading and sexist. By the way, neutering does not stop a pet from marking its territory. -- TOM WILLIAMS, HENDERSONVILLE, TENN.

DEAR TOM: I beg to differ with you. I checked again with my veterinary expert, who tells me that although it doesn't always solve the problem, the FIRST thing an owner should do to stop a pet from "inappropriate urination" is to neuter it. (If that doesn't work, the owner may have to resort to drugs for the animal, which are not effective 100 percent of the time.)

I meant no offense when I made the comparison; however, if you were offended, please accept my apology.

Many readers wrote to comment on the letter from "Whiz-zard's Wife." I'll have more on the subject tomorrow.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more attractive person, order "How to Be Popular." Send a business-sized, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada) to: Dear Abby Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, Ill. 61054-0447. (Postage is included.)