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Jared Leys

@jaredleys.bsky.social
798 followers 506 following 2.5K posts

Ducks | Books | Hibiscus

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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 21h
Duck of the day! This is a black-bellied whistling duck. Photo by Mathew Schwartz.
Black-bellied whistling duck on a bare tree branch
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Ducks of the day! These are mallards. Photo by Timo Schlüter.
Mother mallard with four ducklings in the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Duck of the day! This is a mallard. Photo by Casey Suter.
Male mallard flying over water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Duck of the day! This is a smew. Photo by MPF.
Female smew on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a Chiloé wigeon. Photo by Charles J Sharp.
Male Chiloé wigeon on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is an American wigeon. Photo by Greg Sellentin.
American wigeon on frosty ground
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Heading into Friday like
Spaceman Spiff crashing on rocky planet
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a Chubut steamer. Photo by Hugo Hulsberg.
White-headed Chubut steamer duck on rocks by the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Duck of the day! I believe this is a pekin. Photo by Sandy Millar.
White pekin close up headshot
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a northern pintail. Photo by Mathew Schwartz.
Northern pintail on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I was thinking about being afraid of dying.
Dancing on My Grave

Fleet of foot
full of grace
might try a new move
might try a new day

They say the water
falls. And falls
flow down to the ocean.

The dirt flows down around me
my grave, my flowers

And I tiptoe through the peonies and I
dance upon my grave
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a pekin. Photo by Alejandro Correa Bayardo.
White pekin duck looking at the camera near some water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a spectacled eider. Photo by Berit.
Male spectacled eider in eclipse plumage
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Been thinking too much about gas prices. #poetry
Gah! So Lean.

gas light blinking
as I drive past the station

and thinking maybe
I’ll let it run dry—
     see how far I get!

and then walk off
into the woods
to hunt for something
I can actually eat
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a hooded merganser. Photo by Camerauthor.
Hooded merganser on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
One morning of slightly chilly weather. Me: Winter is coming.
Duck from duck song wearing stocking hat and scarf
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is an American wigeon. Photo by Polinova.
Male American wigeon
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Duck of the day! I’m actually not sure what species this is. Something mallard-related. Photo by Frauke Riether.
Duck with yellow bill, gray head, brown breast, white sides, gray tail. Swimming on water.
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Apparently I should have named my book Crap. Either way, it was neither aided nor abetted by AI.
Slop by Jared Leys book cover. Title and author name of multicolor swirling background
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This is what happens when I'm allowed to use powerpoint with no oversight.
Ponds. A duck says: "There's no place like home." A pond clip art, duck clip arts, and other pond-related clip arts.
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a pekin. Photo by Marcus Ganahl.
Pekin duck showing off wings
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I’ve been having way too much fun writing nonsense poetry.
Poem:

When you fall asleep in your car because you're all out of pennies between the seats and the parking meter wouldn't take them anyway and you're all out of gas and you don't drive a tesla even though you find yourself in that kind of neighborhood
oh uh hey! officer let me uh
*roll roll roll down the window*
sorry wow! that sun's bright what uh— sorry
what time is it?
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A new short story for you. Fedora Duck The duck mob is not to be trifled with.
Short Story: Fedora Duck promo image. With two muscovy ducks in fedoras
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a common eider. Photo by Zdeněk Macháček.
Male common eider showing off wings on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Thinking about whether I’m going to be in the part of the world that burns up or the part that freezes over.
Fire and Ice
Robert Frost, 1874 - 1963
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To know that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Duck of the day! This is a Muscovy. Photo by Dmytro Koplyk.
Muscovy duck in the grass
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Sometimes soda go POP. #poetry #sodapop
Soda go POP
he don't know how to say because the robot men stole all the words
But he can convey
they said the cameras were for his safety they said to his bride
go back to your country
they said the forests are all going to burn, burn, burn
they said to his brain iyou're going a little bit crazy
he said his hand felt shook they said the shepherd's a crook he said he don't like the hook they said don't look there, here look
and all the movies he loved are now all the cut-up shorts he wore three days in a row when the water well ran out (enjoy how nice the new
robot makeup looks now!)he go for a walk in the woods but they built a prison there so he go for a walk in town
but he baked on cracked sidewalks so he bought a ice cold drink but the vending robot ate his coins
he thought maybe he should dash
-but they took that too
so he slumped against a wall with his carbonated high-fructose lemon-lime
(closed his eyes)
when he got kicked awake by the grumpy old police chief
—who had deported his mate got told he can't be sitting there and got told to be on his way and got told don't you dare to glare
and got told those aren't the words you should say
And when he relented—
the police chief laugh and grabbed his soda and made it all shook up and handed it back and said here, enjoy
well. sometimes
when you don't have the words you still find a way to convey
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a wood duck. Photo by Dave Willhite.
Male wood duck standing on a log in the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a northern pintail. Photo by Tom Koerner.
Male northern pintail on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Ducks of the day! We didn’t talk much, but it was a good hangout.
White crested duck and other farm ducks
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a mallard. Photo by Pete Nuij.
Male mallard in flight
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Going through the motions, knowing full well they might transfer my information anyway and no on will stop them.
Online form that says:
If you do not want your information transferred, tick the box and submit. We will record your request and leave you out of the transfer.
Do not transfer my information.
SUBMIT
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a runner duck dressed up like a mallard. Photo by Erwin Bosman.
Runner duck with male mallard colors
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a Laysan Duck. Photo by Michelle H Reynolds.
Laysan duck on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I wrote a short story called “Secret Symphony”. I apologize in advance.
Secret Symphony
Underground in a heavily insulated, sound-proofed basement, Stillman led the last remnant of the once-world-renowned Michigan Avenue Symphony in a rousing rendition of Beethoven's Ninth. He waved his arms in tempo, he waggled his baton to bring forth the flutes, he pointed to the brass to come in with oomph. For two years, they had practiced their craft in secret.
First, the government had taken away alcohol.
This had barely impacted Stillman's routine. But when they expanded their prohibitions to include music, he hadn't given a second thought to finding ways to break the law. He and many from the symphony continued in secret.
But one secret begets another and he knew the days of the symphony were numbered. They were on to him. He had made up his mind to fight the authorities unto his dying breath.
So when his assistant approached his stand and whispered a word of warning in his ear, he halted the symphony, told everyone to escape out the back, and grabbed his submachine gun.
"What're ya doin'?" asked his assistant.
"There's a copper out there," said Stillman,
"who'll have to send me to the electric chair, all because he believes I'm a good conductor."
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a scaly-sided merganser. Photo by BS Thurner Hof.
Scaly-sided merganser female standing in water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a northern shoveler. Photo by Frank Schulenburg.
Male northern shoveler in flight over water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Ducks of the day! These are mallards and they are not in a row. Photo by Kamil Switalski.
Three mallards on the water
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is an Australian shelduck. Photo by pp2ch.
Australian shelduck close up
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Duck of the day! This is a ruddy shelduck. Photo by Maheera Kulsoom.
Ruddy shelduck standing on metal thing
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I’ve assembled my Westerns starter pack.
Flint by Louis L’Amour; Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey; True Grit by Portis; All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy; Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Ducks of the day! These are mallards. Photo by Lancier.
Two female mallards overlooking the pond
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Taking a break with a book.
Paperback of A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan alongside a pint of beer
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Please enjoy my new post-genuine freeform poem by reposting it.
Millennial Relationships
I dropped my attention
span
on the floor.
"Five second rule!"
twittered Ex,
snatching it up and swallowing whole
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Duck of the day! This is a mandarin duck. Photo by Stephen Heron.
Male mandarin duck in flight
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Forget likes, you’re going to have to repost to get my answers. And I’m doing it in reverse order. And you don’t have to repost, I’m just saying that. I’m going to do as many as I feel like regardless.
1. What's your favorite part of writing?
2. What's the scariest thing you've ever written?
3. Do you usually write happy, sad, or other kinds of endings?
4. Who is your favorite author?
5. What's your favorite type of scene to write?
6. What's your favorite type of symbolism?
7. What's your least favorite part of writing?
8. Where do your ideas come from?
9. What're your favorite themes?
10. What's the most wholesome thing you've written?
11. Have you ever had writer's block?
12. Do you have a favorite character?
13. What drives you to write?
14. What's your favorite part of your current WIP?
15. Do you have a favorite of your writing projects?
16. Do you enjoy editing?
17. What's the saddest thing you've ever written?
18. Do you like long or short form writing better?
19. What's the hardest thing to write?
20. What song(s) inspire you to write?
21. Do you have a specific type of reader in mind when you write?
22. Is your prose more purple or beige?
23. Do you have any monsterous characters, metaphorically or literally?
24. What're your favorite books?
25. Do you usually write with specific themes in mind, or find them during writing?
One like,
One answer!
A Writer Ask Game!
By Theodore Snapdragon
26. Does being a writer impact how you see the world?
27. What's the weirdest thing you've ever written? The shortest?
28. Would you say you love writing?
29. Is there a specific author you want to be like?
30. What's the most annoying task in writing?
31. What's your biggest grammar pet peeve?
32. Which of your characters do you find yourself thinking of the most?
33. Do you have other passions besides writing?
34. What's the most romantic thing you've ever written?
35. How do you establish setting in your writing?
36. Do you enjoy writing dialogue?
37. How much time do you spend inventing background lore for your writing?
38. What's the longest thing you've ever written?
39. Do you have a favorite genre to write in?
40. What part of your writing do you think about the mo…
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Duck of the day! This is a wood duck. Photo by MeshkaDB.
Wood duck in grass
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Duck of the day! This is a runner duck. Photo by birgl.
Runner duck with green head close up
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Duck of the day! This is a pekin. Photo by Ichsan Chairul.
Pekin sitting near water under two saplings
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Jared Leys @jaredleys.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
I just read Nicked, a historical fiction novel that reads like a fantasy adventure. Incredibly fun book. Somewhere between the dog man, the gay romance, the heist of a corpse, and the fiery naval battle, you realize you’ve actually learned a great deal about the 11th-century Mediterraean.
Nicked by M.T. Anderson paperback cover
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