Letter from a Wounded Duck

“Imprinting… occurs very rapidly…it is irreversible, or, at least, it is difficult to extinguish. Although imprinting was for some time thought to be found exclusively in birds, it now seems that it may be a more universal type of behavior.”

Dear Society,

“Oh Little Duck! Go on and chase the pack!

Do what the rest have done and simply quack

With joy! Without a doubt, your leader guides

You far beyond the rest, and never hides

What she deems truly best! Through happy field

Or sky-blue pond, through daisy dance or weald

Of soft-dew dawn! My faithful troop will grow

and grow each day, and all will see their glow!

Don’t stray too far, dear lamb, for we will leave behind

The ones who feel the path we take is blind.

For I, your fearless leader, truly care for you,

Until you stumble in your path, then shoo!

-Don’t ever doubt me child, for you hold no

power over me or the rest of my

flock, you little fool. You see the ugly duckling

and the lame lamb, both limping with painful

wounds? You see the broken staves of those who

came before you? Little duck, you hold no

Control. -

So follow me, my darling little goose, and leave

Behind your made-up hopes of “truth,” naïve.”

I’ve followed you quite faithfully for some time

And truly felt your efforts as sublime,

And good, and true. You make your norms so sweet

With honeyed promise. You hold the Sue or Pete

Or Chad or Kim or Will or Nick or Ann

Quite tight within your grasp. You hope your plan

Will hold the foolish man. But now I see,

Quite plainly, sometimes rules are meant to be

Broken.

From,

A Wounded Duck

A. Ogden Ramsay, and Eckhard H. Hess. “A Laboratory Approach to the Study of Imprinting.” The Wilson Bulletin, vol. 66, no. 3, 1954, pp. 196–206. JSTOR, JSTOR.