DEATH OF A SEAGULL

On a lonely stretch of beach I stand.  There before me lies a seagull in the sand.
I watched him as he tried to fly.  In vain he struggled, his eyes set upon the sky.
  I  wondered how his life had been.  What had brought him to this end?
Kneeling beside him on the beach, into his mind I tried to reach.
 Fixing me in his baleful stare; somehow he knew I really did care.
  I said “Watching you soar has been one of my pleasures, as you searched the sea for your life’s treasures.
 Now how can I help you my friend, for surely you know that this is the end.”
 Lifting him gently I brushed of the sand.  Then suddenly I began to understand.
No more will his wings lift him to a soaring height.
  No more over a fish will he squabble and fight.
  Never again will he take a mate; for death on this lonely beach is his fate.
Then thru his eyes I looked around, far below me was the ground!
  Winging higher and higher we flew out to sea.  The waves rolling and crashing reached up for me.  Swooping and circling we flew back to the land, alighting again upon the sand.
“Thank you my friend,” said he, “for one last flight out over the sea.”

Kim Warren