GULLS OVER BRUM

GULLS OVER BRUM

The City where I reside,

Is miles and miles from the sea.

But, I don’t have to travel to the seaside,

To bring it any closer to me.

***

I can stroll through any part of the City,

And listen out for the familiar sound.

Birmingham, unlike the seaside, isn’t that pretty,

Though the gulls still lazily circle around.

***

They glide above the canals by the Mailbox,

And fly into the City from Longbridge,

They’re quicker to the scene than the city fox,

                                           Dining out at the ‘spaceship’ Selfridge

***

They silently scan their urban coastline,

As they hunt for food over the ‘Bull Ring’,

Below them the shoppers increasing waistline,

From fast food shops their litter dropping.

***

Beethams tower is just like a glass sea cliff,

   Where they can safely rear their young.

Then circling the thermals on wings stiff,

Car exhaust fumes, not salt spray which they’re hung.

***

They may be like foreign invaders in the sky,

These gulls over Brum, so common to see.

But take time to look and you’ll see why,

Their grace and soulful cry appeals to me.

Phil Hall  April 2013