a duck waddling in your throat
before a thunderstorm

try to quack all you can
navigate through water

(your wings
do not function)

remain afloat you remember
your body floats (what’s the word)

go fast as you can
in this pond you call home

you duck
you slow duck

come home to algae

fish

geese

ripples

 

(originally published in The Pangolin Review, Summer 2018)