Summer Night On the River

The fading sunlight angles through the trees – Strange alchemy that turns the river gold; And on this balmy night with scarce a breeze To trouble little ducklings gay and bold, They sail and scoot around without a care And do not see, submerged, the danger there. In silence, in the shallows, lurks a pike. He’s long and lean with hunger. Lies in wait : Young ducklings for dinner, that’s what he’d like, But then, a passing heron seals their fate. He splashes down amongst the waving reeds And scatters ducklings safely back upstream, Apart from one, who paddles without fear Downstream, accelerates towards the weir !