waddle, paddle

waddle, little duckling

scurry after mama

knock yourself sideways

against a tuft of grass

twice as tall as you are

hesitate at a cliff

three times your height, but

at mama’s squawk

of encouraging command

lift stubby wings to help launch

you out and over onto a sparkling

surface you know

you’ve never walked on before

that moving effervescence

gives under your webbed feet

momentarily, you feel you

will drop down forever

and then you feel your little, yellow

self bob up and down and float

those wide, flat feet begin to move

so you can hurry after mama

paddle, little duckling, paddle