the laughing ducks

Walking by the lake today I hear a mallard laughing
hwua hwua hwua hwua
Then others joining in:
hwua hwua hwua hwua
HWUA hwua hwua hwua

I have this notion that ducks all laugh at the same old joke
So funny it’s been passed down, generation to generation
and spread across the world

So funny that they cannot hold their mirth inside
it just keeps bubbling up
and here it comes again

HWUA hwua hwua hwua
HWUA HWUA HWUA HWUA
HWUA HWUA HWUA HWUA

And I can’t help but feel,
This joke they cannot keep suppressed,
is all to do with us, something they know
of which we’re unaware,
something that puts us in our place at last
And I wonder, will they laugh still more
when we’re not here to hear?

Mike O’Kane, Dumfries 2019