Mama Loves Me by TIMIR BANERJEE , MD
I am a little duck Only three weeks old
I don ’ t like the rooster and the frog hanging around my mama duck
When I am excited and say , “ mama mama look ,”
The frog jumps making me spook And the rooster gives me a dirty look I don ’ t like it
I want mama all for myself without the riffraff , in my life , trying to fit .
I am a little fluffy child with yellow velvety hair
I walk around the water spigot with mama keeping an eye on me to make sure that I am close to her
I like to eat the soft chick feed that is just a bit wet I like the cracked corn too
But I have to take a drink soon after that to wet the back of my gullet .
I watch the guinea that thinks I am it ’ s baby But the guinea can ’ t swim
Mama duck guides me to the little pond where I dive in and feel the water filled to the brim
We swim together mama and I Under the blue sky From one end to the other and free .
The chicks and the hen just peck the ground as their mommy teaches them to use their feet to move the dirt and grass around
The turkey just eats from the feeder and now and then from the ground .
This is spring We babies make noises and at times I think that I can sing Much like a guy called Bing Who sang my baby smiles at me The old farmer stands around with a bucket in his hand And a smile of content
Looking at my swimming abilities and proud gait , as though this is some event .
I watch mama duck dip her head in the water bucket fast and repeatedly
I watch her clean herself by turning and twisting her head quickly
As the water splashes on her body I realize that I would be able to do that someday .
I laugh and play Mama walks with me to teach me to eat bugs and worms all day Cause I had heard the farmer say we are free range The corn is a substitute as I am growing
Soon that will be removed from my diet and I better adjust to the change .
There is a net above us so the chicken hawk doesn ’ t get me I feel safe and free This is what I like to be . I feel like a pretty duckling With mama loving me Knowing someday I will be big And laying eggs from which will come out someone like me .
I have never read Siddhartha But the farmer has read it many times and he told me He talks also about Paul and Barnabas
He sits on a stool and reads Galatians 2:10 and tells me to remember to feed the poor
I don ’ t understand all the religious stuff But I believe in Galatians 5:20 for sure
Cause without love and confidence I would never be able to laugh .
Mama said loving is not just to say I love you or a peck on the cheek when we say good bye
But it is evident only from the way we treat someone all day and how we plan to take care of the person when we die .
So I say to my friends and siblings Come swim with me under the blue sky
Sometimes rain will get us wet but God has given us enough feathers to shake the water off to make us dry .
Cause it is the cloud that makes the rain and rain makes the rivers flow and the water makes the clouds again only to rain on
us as we grow .
Dr . Banerjee is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at the University of Louisville .
30 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE