Spoiler

From my 10th floor vantage point I watch the convergence of inland gulls over a period of weeks each fall. Their appearance means autumn has arrived as surely as any flock of geese flying south. And when the gulls finally fly off, I am always let down.



Spoiler


Inland gulls
stoked with the pent up energy
of kids before a fall field trip

ripple the air over an early morning
gathering spot, a still vacant parking lot.

Small numbers at first, the group
swells into a proper flock given time,
but the building boss grumbles.

At dawn a security car scatters
the crowd, breaking up their play daily
until a secret signal to peel away

propels them south for the winter,
and an acre of bare concrete
stares back at the car for hire.

The birds' aerial choreography,
murmurations of unrestrained joy, gone.



Marilyn Aschoff Mellor