Thomas Hahn

The End of the Dock

On chilly days,
I like to go to the lake,
sit at the end of the dock,
and wait.  I hope that
if I wait long enough for
the wind to carry the
mallard feathers
across the water,
I’ll get lucky
and one of those
beautiful teal plumes
will float over to me,
and I’ll pull it out of the chilly water
and put it in my breast pocket.
But the feathers always miss the dock.
Sometimes by yards
and other times
tickling and teasing the tips of my fingers.
I have almost fallen into the dark water
attempting to grab one.

Thomas Hahn is the former editor of Calliope. He lives in Ronkonkoma, NY.