Just Calling You Bill

Donna Freeman

August 31, 2022

This one is for you, Bill. 

You didn’t know I would write.

You only knew I was the one who

saw you on a bench 

feeding a duck near the river.

You called him “Friend.”

You didn’t have an open gin bottle in your hand.

You weren’t glazed over from drugs.

Your eyes showed clear blue.

But you seemed gone.

So I sat with you.

“Don’t!”

Your first words to me.

“Don’t tell!”

“Don’t report me, please!!”

Your left hand trembled.

A sign stood above the bench:

Please Don’t Feed The Waterfowl. 

Friend waddled close to you.

You reached into your pocket

finding two crackers.

But then Friend turned to the river.

The river flowed with iridescent forms.

Mallards swam close to shore

eager to greet their brother.

Ducks are never lonely for long.

I stayed close to you

for a few minutes more

then I was gone.

Donna Freeman’s poetry has appeared in Wilderness House Literary Review, Blue Lake Review, and appears in Ocean State Poets Anthology: Giving Voice. In 2020 a poem of Donna's was selected for RI Public's Radio "Virtual Gallery.” She enjoys writing on both personal and political matters.