As Seagulls Fly

Over the last few years, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon

that manifests itself at one particular intersection in the city.

It is a busy intersection, so the wait for a turn light is often very long,

which affords me a good deal of time to look around.

On more than one occasion over the past few years,

I have noticed a flock of seagulls in the sky just ahead.

Photo of seagulls courtesy of morguefile.com

They glide back and forth from a shopping area to the right 

to just over the middle of the roadway to the left.

They move en masse, flying away from the shopping district 

as if they are leaving for distant shores,

only to suddenly curve back in unison 

and glide back to the shopping area they just vacated.

They repeat this movement over and over, 

like the gentle swing of a pendulum.

Again and again, they leave their vantage point over the shops,

then use the warm air currents from the road to make their return.

The other part of this dance that is striking to me,

is that when the sun is shining and the sky is blue,

the seagulls appear gray-colored during their departure,

but as soon as they begin their turn above the road, 

the sunlight reflects from their breasts and turns them a dazzling white.

The effect is quite mesmerizing, even soporific.

If it weren't for the rush of traffic powering through the intersection

as soon as the light turns, 

I could easily sit there and drift off to sleep.

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