I see marangana the wood duck—
male and female—
paddling with three ducklings
close by. 

I haven’t seen any wood ducklings 
in a while.
To me they look like yet
Pacific black ducklings.
And I’m surprised 
when a group of 
yet try to pluck at them,
sending the
tiny things
skimming across the water
or briefly ducking
under.

Reminds me of how easy it is
to mistake an adolescent coot
with an Australasian grebe.
How fixed we can get in our concepts,
till that’s all we see,
and how the context—looking for mothers,
seeeing whether they dive—
both spatial and temporal
can save us 
from error.
Waiting, waiting,
to decide.