Ducks & David

A snowy embankment frames the scene.
I see a pair of mergansers skimming the water
their graceful wake cutting the surface of the creek
I watch them until they swim from my view

I am returned to a time partly forgotten.
a memory of long, long ago
When I first learned of their name from my then-husband.

He was going hunting that weekend
and I'd ask what kind of ducks those were -
black heads, white bodies and a black stripe down their back.
I watched as the dove and fed.

"Mergansers", he smiled.
He was always proud to know the answer
to any nature question I had.
"They're beautiful. Don't bring any of those home"
He laughed.....and didn't.

Too bad he didn't have the answers to life's questions.
He died in his mid 30's after two failed marriages after ours
and an attempt to connect again from him.
Every year when the mergansers return,
my thoughts always turn to David.