32nd &
Seagull
Along 32nd
Street
there’s a little house
sometimes with a seagull
standing on the rooftop.
When it’s there it makes
noise
turning and shaking its
wings out.
Sometimes another gull
appears.
I only see these things if
I’m out
walking the dog, or going
to the store.
With the whole town to nest
on
it’s odd for a bird to land
there.
There’s nothing about the
place
to notice. Sometimes I
forget
which house has the seagull
on it.
One day as I walked past
a man was kneeling on the sidewalk.
He was digging dandelions.
I stopped and said hello.
He looked up and cupped his
ear
as I asked, “What’s the
story with
that seagull on top of your
house?”
He didn’t mind telling me,
“It started showing up
three years ago.”
“Do you feed it anything?”
I asked.
I pictured him throwing
fish up there.
At my bus stop once I saw a
woman
wearing a bright pink
bathrobe
tossing bread on the roof
of her house.
Seagulls and crows were
perched
all around, waiting for her
to leave.
“No,” he said. “He just
chose me.”
