Photo by James Rainsford
The poem does not do it justice in any way, but I enjoyed playing!
Stone Heart and the Gull
Well worth the wait my friend,
though often I gave up on you
and feared the worst. I blamed myself,
knew I’d asked too much.
Pah – never underestimate
the power of my wings, my stubbornness,
my pride. Wind, hail, rain,
I take them in my stride!
So, tell me of the sea, tell me everything,
the sounds, the scents, the waves, the storms,
help me feel alive again and know the joy –
raw and cruel and wet and pure…
The sea is still rebounding, from shore
to distant shore. It feels great shame, reels
with the pain of forces it can’t fight. You
would not recognise this sea, the way it is tonight .
And yet it smells as sweet to me, the perfume
from your wings, the salt tang of ionated, blessedly
fresh air. After years of must and dust my friend
my stone heart just can’t care.
That is your loss and one I mourn, your lack
of understanding. It’s not your fault I realise
your blinded eyes , your deafened ears, the
coldness of your spirit…
Don’t lecture me, you dratted bird, your habits
aren’t much better. Look at my face – that was you.
You sully what you care for…so shut your beak,
Your smell I want, the bitter whiff of brine.
The thanks I get! Well not this time, I’m off
to mine some landfill. Just you remember statue
man as you stand there so still – I’m the only one
of us who can – who will return to sea!
Sally J Blackmore's Blog 
Flying with WordPress takes on a whole new meaning! Thoroughly enjoyed the poem.
thank you – glad you enjoyed it.
Fun, good read. Thanks for the laughter.
glad you liked it – thanks for reading it.
thank you for commenting – I enjoyed scribbling it and am glad you liked it.
I love the way you’ve created a dialogue here between gull and statue. I adore the third stanza. Great write. Thanks for sharing, James.
thank you James, it is a great photo and I didn’t really do it justice, but loved having a go. Thank you for letting us use it as a prompt.
smiles. love the two voices…now fly on to the sea bird…
Lucky bird! Thank you for reading it and glad it raised a smile.
Ha! Sally you tickled me pink. I went for laughs too 😉
it certainly has a comic element – what a great photo. Thanks for reading and commenting.
i love it! really enjoyed the conversation.
thank you – it was fun writing this. glad you liked it.
thank you Dani – and all the thanks the guy gets for talking to the bird is poo on his face! Thank you for reading and commenting.