wildscape. literary journal

Bird Watching with a Beer on a Beach Towel
by Heather Truett

The gull throws full speed, body drop 
dives, orange beak ammunition, and rises 
undeterred. Shiver of wings, droplets sling, 
my skin and bones adoze in the chair, a red 
shovel in the sand. So much does not depend 
on that red shovel, its scratched plastic forgotten 
by a child. I laze. I gaze. I graze on images, sandal 
toes pointing skyward, blue whales on a beach 
bag, and gull cries, like a called shot. Fish 
dinner. Gulf of Mexico. Bird bodies taut 
and straight, aimed, like my sister with a pool 
cue, a bowling ball, the right words.

about the author // Heather Truett