Steve Klepetar
By the River
Two girls, at most
sixteen,
pink hair,
blue hair, frayed
jean shorts, tee shirts
with stenciled
names and faces
of bands,
thin arms glowing
in pale
sunlight, talk
softly, quiet children
awed by mallards
swimming in ripples
not fifty yards from shore.
Steve Klepetar lives near the Mississippi River in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the ducks are strong, the drakes good looking, and all the ducklings are above average.