I watch you, Seagull,
\non the pub roof on Manchester Road,
\ntall, alert and shining
\nagainst a metallic morning sky.
\nFeed the birds…Robin,
\nSparrow, Starling, Pigeon,
\nthen we set off up Manchester Road to town.<\/p>\n
The traffic stops two cars ahead.
\nIt’s Friday, mosque and prayers day
\nand there’s a man standing next to his car
\nin the middle of the road.
\nDistressed.
\nI climb out and see the postcard
\nin his hand.
\n– Trying to lift a grounded Seagull
\nwith his postcard.<\/p>\n
I ask if I can help…
\nHe nods sadly and the traffic waits…
\nReach down and lift the beauty
\ninto my arms…
\n– White, shining, heavy, dazed,
\nA pitiable limpness.
\nWarm, downy, eyes-glazed.<\/p>\n
Lifting limpness I climb into our car
\nand the traffic moves
\nup Manchester Road to the vet.
\nThe eye gazes at me in stillness.
\nTiny feathers layered on strong muscles
\nand a whiteness – a softness – a strength
\n– something like Angelic.<\/p>\n
I cradle the long neck carefully
\n– content to rest –
\na bit like kissing Dom’s cheek.<\/p>\n
I remember my son dying.<\/p>\n
“Shock”, says the gentle young vet.
\n“It must have died in your arms from shock”.<\/p>\n
Thank you for the gift.
\nI should like to die like that.
\nSuddenly, without thinking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leigh Cook, April 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I watch you, Seagull, on the pub roof on Manchester Road, tall, alert and shining against a metallic morning sky. Feed the birds…Robin, Sparrow, Starling, Pigeon, then we set off up Manchester Road to town. The traffic stops two cars ahead. It’s Friday, mosque and prayers day and there’s a man standing next to his … Continue reading Seagull Postcard<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=438"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":552,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/438\/revisions\/552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laladom.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}