Looking at Ducks
It is good to look at ducks.
I never said that I do everything right.
I said I do some things right
and that the rest is a wash.
Meanwhile, I do look at ducks
and never regret my choices.
Okay, I regret one of my choices,
but it had nothing to do with you,
and it was totally understandable.
I also regret something I said
about stars and ducks and about the sky
looking down upon the earth
the way a monster looks at a child
from within a closet, eyes glinting.
The eyes, I thought, were stars,
and in that scenario we were the ducks.
But we are not like ducks, and perhaps
in a different sense we don’t even like them,
but I would still contend that it’s okay
to look at them, even if a bit fondly,
the way a man looks at a child
who’s scared in bed — consolingly.
For while we are not like them now,
we must realize that we once were,
so please excuse me while I look at ducks.
–Aaron Belz”