Poems by
Sudeshna Kar Barua

The Hen and the Duck

a poem by Sudeshna Kar Barua

Mother Hen said, “Cluck, cluck, cluck!
Oh! Daddy Cock see what bad luck!
This is the egg that you did tuck
It broke alright but out came a Duck!

Mother Duck said, “Quack, quack, quack!
That egg we’d kept inside a sack,
There beside that wooden rack,
It’s mine, I say, just give me back.

“Cool down, my Dear”, said Daddy Drake.
“Ma Hen didn’t know that the egg would break!
But what a bonny sweet little thing,
Look Honey! That’s our baby duckling!”

Baby Duck said “Quack, cluck, cluck!
Who said I ‘m a little duck?
All my playmates are fat chicks
So please don’t play such nasty tricks!

“This is my home and here I’ll stay
With Mother Hen all night and day.
Ma has baked a wormy pie
So Mister Drake I say Good-bye.”