A Seaside Close Encounter Session
Plum Island, October 2002

A gull is looking to the deep frontier
with cold impassive focus that could kill
infinity if nothing else was near
for killing, nothing present to fit the bill.
But then he turns and sets his sights on me.
I know that my emotions can appear
as if they’re never-ending, like that sea,
but still, despite bewildering, they’re here
within their bounds. Repressed, I cry.
They’re like that crashing edge of surf instead.
No matter what the time of day, they try
to fill my heart with sounds of love or dread.
I ought to ape that gull; he has it right:
to take a step, stretch wings, and then take flight.


copyright 2002 Gregory Perry