a life in my hand

walking alone on a dark wet morning
the fog caressing the lake

pondering my worth
maybe it should be the end
here today,
the cold,
wet water
my last act,
my first ever act of freedom

and then I hear it
a muffled sound…
there it goes again

but I see nothing
even in the fog
I can tell I’m alone

there... that noise again!
a muffled squeak
and movement of grass

I'm almost annoyed, this was supposed to
be my time of choice
how can I possible think with that silly invisible sound?

then something taps my shoe

I look down, and there on the ground is a.....
little duckling
I bend down, and put my had out
just to see what happens

the duck, with no hesitation
waddles up to me
then plops down on my hand

it turned it's head to look at me
it's eyes seem to say
"what?"
"You are my new mother, deal with it"
And then the little duckling
wiggled it’s bottom and made a small "quack"
as if to say that it’s final, so there!

"what do I do"
I hold this small precious life in my hands
I can feel it's little heart

beating away
It's eye giving me a quizzical look
trying to figure me out

how can I look after this little thing?

I can barely take care of myself

As if the little treasure could read my mind

looking up at me, made a faint squeak

t game my finger a small nip of affection

in it’s eyes I could see hope

the sun came up, and warmed us with its glow

I looked at the duckling and whispered to it

“Let’s give this hope thing a try”