herring gull gallantry

Cherry

By Di_Hard

Thu, 28 Mar 2019
  • 3670 reads
14 comments
 

If you wait till half past six

there's cheap bread at the Co op

or donuts for 16p.

 

So now, after chores are done

I put on my coat (it's still

cold here, at the end of March)

leave indoors my man and boy

and set out down hill to town.

 

Under sky's forgetmenot

blue at dusk air's full of sound

as seagulls, all the seagulls

of the island, seeming, fly

round and round, calling the same

husky call,  wide, wheeling wings

flashing, never crashing, like

glitter in a snow globe shook

 

Then birds begin to peel off

in pairs, two on this lamp post

two on chimneys over there...

watching silently those left

airborne fewer, calls are less

till the darkening sky is whole

 

I'll forget the cheap french stick

but the seagull disco? No

 

 

 

Certificate U
Poem

Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

A great carefree poem Di. It's like you're sensing everything around you and not just walking to the shops. It was like reading a breath of fresh air.

By the way, we have inland sea gulls where we live, their sound always makes me feel like the sea is just in the distance, especially when I look up at a blue sky. Very uplifting like your poem.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou s much for your kind comment, Jenny, I am glad it reminded you of the sea. I still catch myself sometimes thinking for a second that I am on holiday and we have been here so long! There is nothing like the sound of seagulls, it is like freedom isn't it?

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

beautiful description - that evening walk sounds like one of those small things that bring a disproportionate joy. I love how we're lucky enough to get little glimpses into where people live!

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I love that about this site, too ! Thankyou for the cherries :0)

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

agree with the other two comments, a privilege to have experiened the sight and escape from time and chore with you!  I especially liked 'wheeling wings flashing, never crashing, like glitter in a snow globe shook'

Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thanks so much for your comment, Rhiannon. I'd wondered if it should be weaving or wheeling, so will leave it now

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

A lovely descriptive poem, Di, with the first three lines as an introduction that grabs the readers' attention right away. The verses that follow reveal that something as mundane as a walk to the shops evoke feelings so deep that one can easily forgo bargains, such as cheap French bread, awaiting a shopper.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou very much for your input Luigi. After I'd posted I thought I shoudn't have put in the bit about the shopping at all, so it's so useful to know you thought that worked as I logged in to change it!

 

Submitted by Jane Hyphen on

I love the comparison to glitter in a snow globe. How nice to walk along the sea to the supermarket and be seranaded by gulls, they don't have many tunes in their repetoire but I admire their enthusiasm and of course they are very busy at this time of year. Thanks for sharing this snapshot into your coastal world.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Jane. Enthusiasm, yes! Though I wonder about the lack of tunes? Because corvids don't have much variety either that I can tell and they are very clever, too. There's no "song" with seagulls, it's more like talking and like you say they seem to have certain phrases for certain situations, you can tell what they are on about sometimes. My partner got a brilliant photo of the seagull on our chimney's first flight. His mum is on the gable, calling fit to bust as he flaps furiously. You can TELL  how proud she is, it's exactly like when my son first stayed on his bike :0)

 

Submitted by hilary west on

Nice poem, but seagulls are a moot point with me ever since they stole my fish and chips on the coast.

Hilary     smiley

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou Hilary for taking the time to read and comment? I'm sorry you had a seagull strafe. They can be scary sometimes, I think it's because there are not enough fish for them anymore, and unlike gentler animals they are not giving up without a fight. I don't know if you watched Poldark, when there was a grain cart come in and the people were starving, and out of nowhere the guards were mobbed and all the grain took. But you are right, they have vicious beaks!

 

Submitted by fatboy74 on

An excellent poem Di, particularly fond of like glitter in a snowglobe shook. I like the shopping detail very much as well, gives the poem an anchor.

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Thankyou so much for the confidence boosting and writing advice, FB  it's very much appreciated :0) I hope things are good with you