How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks. Dorothy L. Sayers
My brothers, taking flight from the reeds.
The hoarse cries lifting like wings to the clouded sky
to walk the fine path to heaven. Landing, softly,
on water – the blood of the world – to go about
the business of your lifetime: fishing, diving,
hiding again in the reeds, raising your children
to continue the cycle. The world of duck is round
as the duck’s eye, lidded with reeds, always open.
The hoarse cries lifting like wings to the clouded sky
to walk the fine path to heaven. Landing, softly,
on water – the blood of the world – to go about
the business of your lifetime: fishing, diving,
hiding again in the reeds, raising your children
to continue the cycle. The world of duck is round
as the duck’s eye, lidded with reeds, always open.