Who Are We, Anyway? - Trout Black

[Larry Robinson]

Who Are We, Anyway?


July is our month for ducklings.

The first weeks I'll see 6 to 10,
once 12 !
wondrous
ducklings 
paddling in the creeks and ponds 
on the trails I hike 
in early mornings.

Then, 
as our predators,
coyote, fox, turtle, 
egret, heron, raccoon, 
once an osprey,
owl at night,
hawk during the day,
feed on the little ducks,
I'll see the parents with fewer kids:
4, then 2,
then sometimes 1,
and, for many: 
none.

I say "Life," to myself.

This morning 
though
it wasn't so easy. 

I saw a single duckling
paddling at the pond's edge,

and I hurt for it.

My heart went south, 
to our border,
where we separate 
hundreds !
of little kids
from their desperate parents.

Coyote, heron, raccoon,
I understand.

I don't understand us,
we Americans:
who are we ?

I don't understand.

Who are we, anyway ?

	- Trout Black