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Abby Harding Writes · Aug 11, 2026

Lame Duck

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Abby Harding · Abby Harding Writes

Unrelated picture from a recent drive. Just sharing because it’s pretty.

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Lame Duck
	based on true events
My heart sinks at the sight
of a pure white, domestic duck
feebly flapping her bloodied wings
by the side of the highway.
I tap my brakes as we come closer,
my mind racing—
         Do I stop?
         Where would I take her?
         Who tends to lame ducks?
         How badly is she hurt?
My van pulls abreast of her,
and I crane my neck as we glide past
clucking my tongue as the duck
transforms into a pure white
grocery sack, red letters telling me
“Thanks for Shopping.”

Last week, I saw this post on Threads about a women who pulled over to help a creature in the middle of the road only to discover it was actually a blueberry bagel. I sympathized, for obvious reason.

You can find “Lame Duck” and other poems like it in Some Days Are Sandstone (also available on Amazon).

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