on the grey roof below my window
youthful seagull flaps and crows
harassing a bored parent
who turns with an irritated shrug of her wing
as if from a stranger
fledgling follows, begging
persisting in his ruthless lament
threatening, ready to peck
but each time he approaches she backs away
I watch the dippy dappy flapping dance
and my imagination prompts me to translate:
“mum, I’m huuungry. pleease feeed me…
“What’s in your craw? I’m hungry.
“I’M HUNGRY! FEED ME.
“I’M HUNGRY! DON’T IGNORE ME.
“I’ll RIP YOUR THROAT OPEN IF YOU DON’T FEED ME.
“COME BACK HERE. FEED ME.
“OPEN YOUR BEAK IMMEDIATELY.”
“POOR ME. CAW! ME! CAW CAW CAW”
Mum’s been silent, but she’s had enough.
She opens her beak and she screeches
high pitched, as if in grief
then opening her wings she lifts from the roof
and flies away.
baby struts, his webbed feet flapping angrily
his brindled feathers fluffing like
cotton exploding from a pod.
he struts, he fluffs, he flaps, he crows,
he struts and fluffs then craps and flows
flying, lifting, wings batting, beating, then stilling
as he slides the slipstream
looking for his dinner
on the ground
two sisters quarrel like seagulls
one stomps off
the other follows, growling
“Wait for me.”
©Jane Paterson Basil
Enchanting!
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Thank you! I lot of people around here hate seagulls – I love them 🙂
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Very unique. I loved “the dippy dappy flapping dance…”
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Thanks Calen – I must swing by your blog. I’ve been kind of occupied – when the muse hits I can’t control it, and I’ve been writing all over the place…
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Not much going on lately… 🙂
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I expect you have other things to deal with. {{{hugs}}}
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Love it! i like seagulls too. This took me straight to a scene from the animated movie Finding Nemo. It’s seagulls doing the ‘dippy dappy flapping dance’ as they fight over scraps of food all screeching “MINE! MINE! MINE! ” 🙂
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I’m so pleased – it’s rare for someone to feel the same way as me about seagulls…
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Thank you for the linkup 🙂
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So this was the show you were watching outside your window? Nice. But from experience, the baby was probably demanding more toys…that’s why the mother flew off in a huff 😉
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Maybe you’re right. I watch seagulls all the time. I feel sorry for the people who are always complaining about them; they miss so much 🙂
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There’s a saying all the five fingers are of different size but needed to make a hand. Maybe we need a combo of all of us in our unique craziness to make this world so? I live far from the sea…no seagulls for me to see.
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I’ve never heard that saying – I like it.
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Its in Hindi, in India
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I could almost visualize it…. Beautifully expressed
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Thank you. I struggled a bit with this one, and with the poem about the sunset. Maybe I was a bit distracted
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Sometimes you just need the right words…..
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