30 August 2026

By Philip Kuepper

I found it difficult to tell
whether the gulls
were fighting, or having fun,
the way they were squawking,
and ascending and descending
like objects being juggled
by invisible hands in the wind.
Or might it have been
I had come in the middle
of gulls performing an opera?
Dramatic, or comic,
it was difficult to tell,
but riveting, a scene
I could not help but watch the outcome of.
Suddenly, they went silent,
turned toward the sea,
and flew away, as though
what I had just witnessed had not happened.
Detente had been reached.
Perhaps it hadn’t been
opera after all,
but agreement over disarmament.

(25 July-23 August 2026)