Hoping For a Fish Supper - Diane Scantlebury

A solitary seagull stalked us
As we sat on a bench by the sea wall,
We were eating our fish and chips
Wrestling with the paper in the wind,
He kept his beady eye on us
Trying to intimidate us with his steely gaze,
Throwing his head back from time to time
And caw, cawing as if to say
“Toss me a chip, you can spare it”,
This was a defiant, needy, greedy one,
Not for him patiently lounging on the sand
With the rest of the flock,
Waiting for the tide to come in
And the cockles to pop to the surface,
No, he was a harasser,
Bold, up front and optimistic,
He’d glance over again in our direction
Hoping we’d be generous and give in,
Hoping for a fish supper,
But we were hungry and had eaten the lot
So he flew off,
Finally leaving us in peace
To wipe our greasy fingers,
And fold up our ketchup smudged chip papers.

Diane Scantlebury