The hidden pond
There's a place you can go to
Whenever you need some peace and quiet
With a geometric human-made pond
Where ducks and a grey heron choose to live.
Today, it lies past the empty mineral square
With an Asian mother admonishing her son,
Past the green, gently winding paths
With the oval slant-eyed sculpture
And the old-new science city in the sky.
Truth be told, you wouldn't bother to find it
If you were afraid of spurious theories
Such as learning from the past and personal experience
As the pond lies half-hidden on a university campus.
This said, its peacefulness attracts even people
Who would not normally consider themselves very peaceful.
But it does take a bit of courage to get there
If you ever thought peace, experience and learning
Had been confined to collective oblivion.
Of course there is nothing grand about this pond;
A short visit will make you rather humbler than greater.
And the ducklings may surreptitiously pop up between your feet
In case you may drop some forbidden food -- or better still.
So do go visit that duck pond close to where you live or work
When in search of some self-actualising meaning
That would make both the job(s) and the home
More naturally peaceful and pedagogical places.
Keeping that stale bread for your vegetable soups,
Bring seeds, oats or even peas instead for an instant win.
With or without treats, if you do arrive at the hidden pond
You may in fact touch the half-subdued face
Of those close ones too soon departed
Who took you as a clueless, longing child
To a peaceful duck pond in the first place.
Above: Ducks in Pittville Park, Cheltenham, UK. Photo by Robert Bell (2022) on Unsplash.