Seagull Bowling

This time
I won't be like the buffalo 
on Antelope Island.
So many ponderous targets,
too late to run,
to realise the elephant gun's aim.

This time
I'm seagulls -
resting in flocks
eating brineshrimp on the causeway
across the great salty lake.

I see the bowling-ball car
bearing down on my feathered tenpins.
I wait 'til the last minute,
savoring - 
launch into the salted sky
and rejoice in the escape.

Kathleen Hover
03-25-02