Where the Mallards Laugh
by Denise Bennett
Langstone Mill – Save our Pond Campaign 2023
People flock to see where the mallards laugh,
where the green-ribboned willow dips down low,
along the newly mended gravel path.
Swans in their big-ship bird-ness, side-glide, bath
behind the wind mill where the waters flow;
people flock to see where the mallard laugh,
where villages have risen like a raft
to find the grit to fix the wall and show
along the newly mended gravel path
that hearts and hands can build a dam, a task
to save their local pond, because they know,
people flock to see where the mallards laugh,
to see egrets in mist-thin trees, white-starred,
where reeds let in the lattice-light, and so
along the newly mended gravel path,
a promenade restored on our behalf,
moorhens, coots and warblers make a tableau.
People flock to see where the mallards laugh
along the newly mended gravel path.