one lone gray duck swims

one lone gray duck swims

away tracing a blue V

in the pink water

The Canada Geese have vanished and the ponds seem strangely empty after seeing dozens of them crowding the water and shores. Then yesterday a new wave of migrants appeared, half a dozen ducks dabbling and dipping on Osage Pond. But this morning in the rosy light of dawn, only one lone duck remains. From the white speculum it looks to be a Gadwall, one of the most common migratory puddle ducks in the Mississippi Flyway. The gray duck swam away when I stopped, tracing a beautiful blue V in the reflection of pink sky on the still water. Somehow, this singular duck creates a more intense feeling of loneliness than a completely empty pond.