By Ana Lampeti Year 6
In the dark
duck feet touch the shivering water.
All is silent with no birds chirping,
and no bees hum.
A dark and blue sky shimmers morning stars over me.
Brown and brown and brown with a flash of green
feather wings tuck behind me
short neck stretched out
dabbling for food.
This piece first appeared in Write On Issue 49 ( Summer 2017-2018)
It was written during a Young Writers Workshop in Schools where artworks from The Christchurch Art Gallery were used as prompts. The young writers were guided to take notice of sensory details and actions in the pictures, and also to note the absence of these. Duck Upon a River is based on the work, Brown Duck by Eileen Mayo .
© Ana Lampeti and The School for Young Writers, 2018.