On Hearing A Musk Duck Poem by Francis Duggan

'Tis the call of the musk duck unmelodious though clear
That in the nearby river I obviously does hear
In the deep, wide and still waters that stretch a mile or more
To the white waves of saltwater where the Pacific breakers roar
Of the shy birds of still waterways Nature's mysteries abound
The wild call of the musk duck is not a pleasant sound
But the male an interesting bird to look at how Nature created him
With a dark fleshy pouch beneath his chin that he can inflate at a whim
The strange ways of the musk ducks seem a mystery to me
The male bird or the female out of water I've yet to see
The female bird leaves the water to breed as much of them as I do know
Of the secret lives of Nature's creatures my wonder only grow
In the still river waters they dive for food every day
And the wild call of the musk duck to their identity a give away.