Mu Shu Duck

Mandarin Ducks

by Margaret Bedford

The cherry blossoms have long since fallen and faded,

as have I,

yet still I remember a meal of

Mandarin Mu Shu Duck

with the young Canadian soldier,

who made me blush with his every glance.

He makes me blush, still,

each time I eat Mu Shu,

remembering those moon-drenched evenings

under the pink blossoms,

their fragrance, so perfect, so fleeting,

as short as a duck's life

in a land of hungry people.

for Margaret's prompt at Real Toads : I took my inspiration from her wonderful photo of the Mandarin Ducks , photographed at the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn. The story, needless to say, is fictional. Don't I wish it weren't, LOL.