Cliff Watson
I stopped
Squarely in my lane was
little brown mama duck
A few paces to her right
Her four tiny ducklings
Slowly and uncer tain ly travel l ing
By f l u f f y Brownian motion
Toward the edge of the road
Mama braced
Demanded I give way
Head high
Coal-eyes unblinking
Damning the drainage control that hides their water and
Requires them to cross unyielding asphalt and
Breathe my suffocating fumes and
Face rolling wheels of death
Damning our house cats that eat her children
Damning the fertilizer that poisons their wetland weed
She did not disapprove
She was angry
Not a gentle flock, a tasty brace, a sweet waddling
But a murder of ducks
Clamor 