Duck Drill



Fifteen ducks ... all lined up on a log ...

(A collapsed tree trunk caught in the bog)

Alternating males and females perched so still

Looking like a unit of soldiers at drill ...



Males manning both ends of the wood stump

Females crouched down, squatting on their rumps

The bright greens of the males glint in the sun

Whilst the all-brown dowdy females catch none

 

The proud cocks sit up on the log, straight as a die 

With necks stretched taut and their beaks held high

Whilst the females cling close to the bark in their lay 

Staying down very low and well out of harm's way



The ducks are a testament to the way of their world

But, in ours, the females are no longer just mere girls

... Looking up to their men-folk to hold watch on the log

As, in our world, males and females both do the same job ...



- Tristram



© Christopher W. Thomas

6:30pm Fri. Jan. 7th. 2000