The Solitude of the Duck

 

Painting by Gail M.P

 

Come sit under the sun without your tendrils.

Appreciate the duck carving a path across the river

without expecting the sunshine to burn or purify her.

The lonely duck does not apologize for being alone,

and neither does she ask to be understood by you

nor thanked for her adamant grace.

After stumbling upon dirty rocks,

we can slide among the withered leaves, 

and like the duck,

we can swim again in the solitude of silence.

Nothing is cast off in the universe

for it survives in acts of transformation.