When I went to the Duck Store
To buy a duck for me I saw
Two ducks in a cage in front of me,
One was moving, one was still,
I watched it sitting there until
I realized it lacked the quality
That separates creatures that work
From other ones that are inert
In other words it had no life inside,
Therefore making this duck dead;
I bought the other one instead,
And took it in my car for a joy ride.
And as we went with some remorse
We pondered the principle force
Of life that sets the living far apart
From things that are inanimate
And have so reached the ultimate
State of having no life to impart -
No heart pumping in the chest,
No sleeping even though they rest,
No food being digested in the gut,
No more blinking for the eye,
No flinch for any stimuli,
The drive to procreate completely shut!
Unlike me and my new duck
Who seemed for the time being stuck
In the sequence of living events,
Yet looking forward to getting home
And so enjoying the duck I own,
Whilst my tummy growled without relent...
It seemed more proof of life had come
To me because my hungry tum
Was telling me to quickly have a feed,
So my little duck and I
Eager not to starve and die
Drove home with alacrity and speed!
And as we hurtled through the street
Dreaming of what we could eat
My new duck friend read to me from a book
Which was a biography
Apparently the life story
Of a famous fowl entitled, "Chook",
Who was famous for thinking
About life after living
And adamant that she'd become a ghost
In the chicken afterlife
Free of common chicken strife
After she wound up on someone's toast!
Making me grateful I guess
To be alive although depressed
That one day I would breathe my final breath
So I thought I'd make the most
Of life before I was a ghost
And enjoy my time from birth to death!
Which made me ponder about now
This time of life I'm in and how
I could make the present worth my time,
Should I share some of my food
With this little quacking dude
Or share him on a plate with friends of mine?
But that would be a ghastly crime
To serve up this new friend of mine
To carve his meaty goodness with a knife...
Surely it would be a sin
And with the law I would be in
Trouble and be locked away for life?
Surely I'd be better fed
To eat a vegetable instead
And live a life of peaceful harmony
With the creatures of the earth
Respecting then the living's worth
And not make plans to have them for my tea?
Why should I consider my
Life to be worth more, should I
Have the right to eat an animal?
Shouldn't I respect the course
And life of this ideal force
And stand for this ethical principle?
But my duck put down his book
And I could tell from his scared look
That he knew the thoughts I entertained.
He said, "There is no life to our
Friendship and I think somehow
I'm less a friend and have become fair game?"
His words cut through me like a knife
They had exactly caught the life
Of the thing imagined in my head
Almost like a photograph
A still life and a polygraph
Revealing that I dreamed the duck was dead!
"Look I said you've done your dash
But now I see you by a mashed
Potato and maybe a plate of peas,
Your life is spent and up you see
Your more useful being dead in me!"
But my argument did not appease.
Instead he showed great resistance
To the idea his existence
And period of life had reached its end,
With tear drops dripping from his eye
He quacked a most tormented cry
And said, "I thought that you and I were friends!"
And then my car let out a groan
And with a life all of its own
Swerved beyond my own ability
To control its reckless wheels
I found myself begin to squeal
Over its new lifelike quality...
Then a voice from in the car
Said, "you won't get very far
If your intent is to eat up that bird!
For the lives of things that fly
And pass their time up in the sky
Are mine!" It was the weirdest thing I'd heard!
Then the life of my shocked brain
Began to stir and whirr again
As I had the start of an idea,
I plucked from the ignition my
Keys to make the car to die
The engine stopped but quickly to my fear
The car did not so quickly stop
But kept on going quite a lot
Threatening the life upon the road,
Anything that shared the road
Was now a threatening deathening load
Of danger putting us in panic mode!
If traffic was a party then
We were the life of it my friend
The duck and I inside the haunted car,
It was a rush and certainly
A chance for me to clearly see
My life so far projected on the tar...
But just like that and quite abrupt
My car was struck by a great truck
And suddenly I left my life behind
And as for that ungrateful duck
He caught a lift upon that truck
Whose driver was the veggie eating kind.
And just when I was pondering
About my life and its meaning
I found myself facing another blow,
For I found myself before
My maker and could not ignore
My judgement day had come and said, "Uh oh!"
By Kerin Gedge
