Duckling Nearly Dies in Drainage Ditch in Tanzania

It is hard to explain why I felt so panicked
as I watched the duckling float swiftly downstream,
far, far away from its mother.

Perhaps I panicked because I was in a foreign land
traipsing along dusty, unfamiliar roads.

Perhaps it was because I live a life
of metaphor, simile, allegory, and alliteration.

I saw the mother duck
struggle against the current to rescue
her wayward duckling.
This mother duck seemed symbolic of the plight
of the African Mother;

Struggling against the current to save her family.

I came to a realization:
she was symbolic of all mothers,
of all nationalities, of all colours,
of all shapes, of all sizes.
All mothers,
who share the sole commonality that their calling is to struggle;

Struggle against the current to save their families.