a duck   one duck   why a duck?
swims   outside ropes   that cordon
this Zone de Baignade   Privée
from other water   of Lake Magog

a duck   one duck   the same duck?
swims   inside the ropes   the next day
near   where I float
its head dipped   for bugs   it hunts
through water   clear   down to sand

a duck    illiterate   anglophone
pas un canard   social   socialist
or anarchist   swims   close to me
misses perhaps   its Marx   brothers
who cavort   in their bowl   of duck soup

why a duck?   one brother   hammers
to Mr. Hammer   a hotel owner   who splutters
It’s …   It’s deep water   this duck
either a viaduct   elevated   above the lake
or just   a duck   that ruffles feathers