Britt Decker wrote a prompt for Ethical ELA’s Open Write this week inspiring us to use a picture book quote to write a poem. At the school book fair, I bought “I am One” by Susan Verde and Peter Reynolds. It made me think about our one wood duck hen who is nesting. We have a wood duck house with a Ring doorbell camera inside so we can watch the progress of our tenants. Each day the Ring goes off around 7 AM, and we look at the video to see her poking around the shavings and settling in to lay an egg. She will do this for a week or so, then she will sit on the clutch. After 28-30 days, the ducklings will hatch. That’s the most exciting part. Within 24 hours they jump from the box into the bayou.
“Beautiful things start with just one.”
One wood duck hen
Margaret Simon, (c) 2022
flies in the house each day
to lay a single egg
one by one
until her clutch becomes a dozen
twittering,
chittering,
jumping
chicks.
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Reflections on the Teche 
How exciting to have a camera inside the house! I may have to try that with the bluebirds. Your poem fits the quote so well. I love thinking of the wood duck returning every day to lay another egg. Hopefully you’ll get to watch them jump!
Oh how wonderful to have an insider’s view of the duck’s nest! We noticed that the ducks at our park, which normally all hang out in a large group, have paired off and many have gone (presumably to the nearby river). We think we even saw one pair tending their nest. Maybe the ducklings will inspire another poem when they hatch!
It’s wood duck time again, already? Wow! That photo is beautiful. And, I can hear you reading this to your grands. It’s such a fun story, of the wood ducks.
I love that wood duck season is back. Something reliably positive and hopeful in the world…
Thank heavens for wood ducks and keen, poetic observers! I love how your poem moves from that quiet one into a frenzy of delightful chick activity.
Thanks for this seasonal reminder of the power of one.
Margaret, I’m fascinated with what I learn here about the flora and fauna of the bayou. Beautiful. Thanks for the play-by-play and your beautiful poem.
They are so beautiful. I love when you start posting about the time the nesting, then laying, then and then! Ah, that “twittering and chittering!”
That’s a beautiful concept, beautifully put. And it was educational for me too. I did not know that ducks lay eggs one day at a time. How nice that you have that box with camera.
My son would be enthralled! He comes from a family of bird lovers, feeders and watchers, and is growing up into quite the little bird lover, himself. 🙂
one wood duck hen…one by one…becomes a dozen — such beauty in life-in-the-making! Thank you!
Hooray for wood duck season! I love those “twittering, chittering, jumping chicks.” Thank you for sharing your process, too. That is a good prompt.