SEAGULL WITH AN S
The tale of one seagull’s journey to becoming.
By: Benjamin David 2022
Seagull with an S
Let me do my best
to tell
This tale from long ago.
It began with a nest
And one little egg
That shivered cracked and rolled
And before anyone could say
“What’s wrong with that egg?”
A little bird popped out
Waving his legs
For just the blink of an eye
You could hear a feather drop
And then all of the flock
Cheered and stamped and screamed
With a flurry of wings
They rose to the sky
Laughing and squawking
“We sure hope you can fly!”
Filled with pride
For the last of her nest
His mother called him
Seagull with an S.
For there are a great many seagulls
You know
And it can be confusing when they come and they go
But this little seagull was not like the rest
He stood out and I bet you can’t guess
The last few lines of this verse
Seagull with an S
Was the only bird
To carry on his wing
A bright purple purse!
“Inside the Purse is an S”
His mother said with a kiss
“Wear it with pride
On your wing,
Like this….
It means you are you
And you won’t get confused
With all the rest
As long as always have
Your purse, with an S.
So Seagull with an S
Grew up loud and proud!
He didn’t care if he stood out from the crowd.
He swooped and soared
With that purse on his wing
Sparkling in the sun.
like a great sparkly purply thing
And when his friends would ask him
What’s in the purse?
And why do you carry it
For better or for worse?
Seagull would grin
And with a wink in his eye
He’d reach in his purse
Do a flip in the sky
And chant
“It’s the letter S
My friend! That’s all.
It’s the name I got
When I was half an inch tall
Sea to the gull
It begins with an S!
And can you imagine the mess
If I possessed
A Tee or an Bee or an X?”
One morning when seagull awoke
A drop of rain fell like a poke
Right on the top of his head
He shook and wiggled
Laughed and giggled
Screaming
“Rainy days are the best!”
Don’t worry purple purse
Ill keep you dry
I’ll hold you under my wing
As I fly!”
Then began the whooshing and whishing
Screaming and swishing
As Seagull’s big family
All began fishing
Seagull dove and dove
But came up with nothing!
The fish were too fast
And he was huffing and puffing
When from over his head
he noticed a flicker
A grey flash and a twist
But Seagull was quicker
Someone had dropped a fish from above
And he zoomed away screaming
“Thanks for the lunch!”
“Hey that’s mine!” Uncle Seagull cried!
“That took me over an hour to find!”
Seagull cackled and laughed
And flew straight up in the sky
He loved being up so high
Up up he flew
Far above his friends
And when
He finally looked down again
The world seemed to have disappeared
It was so quiet and still up here
The wind whirled around him
ruffling his feathers
Smelling a bit of stormy weather.
Seagull knew it was time go back down
He really should be settling near the ground
For the night
After maybe one or two good fights.
But he couldn’t stop gliding
Floating and flying
Up here in the darkening cloud
He loved how quiet and still it was now
Boom boom crack zap!!
Seagull looked down screamed
There was no going back!
The angry black cloud
Now blocked his way
The thunder BOOMED
AND CRACKED
AND LIGHTNING ZIPPED AND WHACKED!
Seagull screamed and dove down
But he could not go back
The angry black cloud now
Blocked his way and
He had no choice
He couldn’t stay
He needed to go higher
But his lungs felt like fire
Seagulls wings beat the air
Suddenly he was very scared
And then Seagull noticed
Another scary thing
No matter how much he beat his wings
He couldn’t fly any higher
The air was too thin
How he wished for that wire
Down where he’d been
This morning
when he awoke.
When his only problem was a poke
Of rain
On his brain
And whether or not his friends. were ok
And his pur….
“My purse!”
Seagull screamed and cried!
He could feel it now beginning to slide
Down the length of his flapping wing
But he couldn’t stop flapping or he knew that he’d sink
So Seagull flapped and flapped
He could see the black, angry cloud
Reaching up to pull him down into its rumbling cage
“No! No! No!
He screamed with rage
“I’m Seagull with an S
How did I end up in such a big mess!?”
And just as Seagull
Thought he was going to die
A big gust of wind
Brushed roughly by
Making him turn and twist
And with a gentle soft hiss
The bright purple purse
Slid from his wing
And fell to the earth.
Dropping silently
down
down
down
The storm swallowing
Up its last purple spark
Seagull watched as his purse
Fell into the dark
“Nooooooo….”
Seagull wailed
“My S! My purse!
My bright purple purse
Of all the bad things to happen
This is the worst!”
Seagull had never felt so empty inside
He almost didn’t care if he lived or died.
And for a while he just flapped
wailed and screamed
He Squawked and he cursed
Because it seemed
Life could not work
Without his purple purse.
He noticed the storm had grown quieter
Without the weight of the purse
He was rising up higher
Up and up he rose
Higher and higher still
Till far above the storm
He found a rocky sill
Where at last he landed
And crouched
Deep under a ledge.
And there, protected and warm
He buried his head
Under the wing that once carried
His bright purple purse.
For even tho Seagull was safe
In his heart, he was hurt.
And he cried and he cried
without making a peep
Until at last, he fell fast asleep.
A warm little sunbeam
Tickled his nose
And slowly
Seagull awoke
And just out of habit
Before remembering his hurt
He looked down at his wing for his bright purple purse.
Seagull gasped in surprise!!
He couldn’t believe what he saw!
His sleek grey feathers
Were now dark and long
And his wings had grown too
So black they were almost blue
When he stretched them out
The very tips
We’re almost lost from view!
As he turned them this way and that
In the bright morning sun
Seagull realized
A change had come.
And his claws that he thought
Had been so sharp and clean
Were now tripled in size
And a bright yellow green.
And His long slim beak
He’d carried with pride
Was now much longer
And bigger and so wide
“What happened to me?”
Seagull asked with wonder
“I used to be so small
down under the thunder.
But I dropped the S.
And now I guess
I’m not the same
I think I might’ve changed.
What I used to be
Was good for back then
But it’s no good for now
I can’t use it again.
With no purse on my wing
And no handy S
My name must be
…..ea-gull
..I guess
Just…
Eagle.
Yes!
That’s it
It’s got a good ring
Even tho it doesn’t come with a purse for my wing.
And
Even tho it seems strange
And I feel a bit weird
This is more like home
Up here
Where I’m near
The clear blue sky
This is where I belong
This is where I scream my song
And maybe the wind will sing along.”
So Eagle jumped from the ledge
And spread his wings
He’d never floated on such powerful
things
From these crazy new heights
With these brand new eyes
He could see the whole world
Like he’d only fantasized!
Eagle opened his beak and screamed out his joy
The mountains echoed back the
Sound of his voice
The Wind howled and laughed
And as Eagle rushed past
Said,
“See there my friend?
Storms never last
They come to an end.”
And together they sang
A song
Making it up as they went along
(Song:)
🎶We’re Eagle and the Wind
And together we fly
Yesterday has been.
It’s Time gone by
And it Won’t rewind
And we don’t mind
Because
We’re eagle and the wind
The very best of friends
Eagle and the wind
Right till the end
Of time
And we don’t mind
We just flyx4?
(Wind) I howled and I shook
And then I took
Everything you thought was your best
But you just couldn’t be
All that you were meant to be
Until you dropped that silly S
(Eagle)
I was seagull with an S
And I thought I was the best
I’d ever be
But I never could have guessed
Who I’d be without my S
I’m glad you took that purple purse from me!🎶
One day when Eagle
Was alone in the sky
He just happened
To turn down his eye
And there
Way down there
On a small silver wing
Just a tiny little thing
Above the seaside firs
He thought caught a glimpse
A sparkle
Of a bright purple purse.
Eagle smiled and sighed
And took a deep
Breath
He would never forget about his purse or his S
But now they belonged
To someone else
Someone else with a journey
Up thru the clouds.
Someone destined to change
Their tiny part of the world
And now boys and girls
we turn the page
And say good night.
Sweet dreams of the day
When you take your flight.
