Adoration

No-one can resist the duckling - 
Still fluffy, stubby wings

Jumping each stone step out of the water - 
Two webbed feet together,
Bobbing under a brown cotton cloud.
Everyone, everyone makes 'ooh' and 'aaaah' sounds.

They adore.

Elsewhere, in sheds, surplus to the human demand for eggs,

Hundreds of chicks chirp in crates -

Tipped and sorted into steel jaws. 

LJ Ireton