For Ping:
In my small pond, I sit
and wait.
I wait for food
body, mind and soul.
I wait for knowledge,
the learning curve steep.
I wait for my voice —
no awkward strangled quack,
no parakeet’s robotic tone,
but a voice newborn
and all my own.
Today Miz Quickly challenged us to select six words from three different word lists, one from one list, two from another and three from the third and then create a poem built around the chosen words and referencing a place. My words were: ping, wait, knowledge, steep, parakeet and newborn.
Author: Marjorie Flack
Illustrator: Kurt Wiese
Copyright: 1933
the raven's eye 
Very nice and concisely done.
I had fun with this prompt too – even if I messed up the instructions.
https://juleslongerstrandsofgems.wordpress.com/2015/06/06/forest-floored-6-6-s/
I loved Ping as a child 😀 Well penned!
Your duckling sounds a bit like me.
Me too. For me, it’s that “strangled awkward quack” business.
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a poem.:)