Kingsbrae 12.4
12 June 2017
Seagull
Seagull on the wind
wing tip tilted
for maximum lift
Wheeling up and away
the gull-wing sway of him
climbing his celestial staircase
in a rush of blue air
Light his flight steps
danced to wind music
played over beach and wave
Watch him wave good-bye
with a waggle of his wings
and a well-judged flick
his sea gull tail painting
neat brush strokes
Comment: Looking through my notebook, I saw the original of this poem, scribbled while I sat in the car, waiting for my friend. I re-read it and admired its simplicity. So I copied it here. The earlier poem I wrote, with the same title, Seagull, is more worked and much more elaborate. You can find it here. I would be interested to know which of the two versions you prefer. A second question: can they both stand as separate poems, even though they overlap in their inspiration and imagery? Let me know what you think.
I like both poems. It would be hard for me to choose one over the other. At the moment I have the feeling that reading the first enriched my reading of the second which then influenced my reading of the first and so on. They are such that the more I read them the more I feel inside them…a good quality I would say 🙂
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That is an interesting comment. The later one (June 12) came first and is closest to the notebook version. I too think there is room for both. The sense of ‘double-reading’ and the playing off of one reading against the other is most interesting. Thank you, Janice.
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