Photo by Tyler Quiring
On my way home from the gym one day
I stopped my bike in awe
As I watched a bird battle
Not a single bird, but two groups
Seagulls versus Crows
There were about a hundred crows
And about fifty seagulls
They flew in intersecting circles
To fly around, regroup, and collide again
A beak joust just above my apartment building
I watched for minutes as the fight raged on
Until a single crow fell to the ground
It landed by a sapling in the grass
Missing Broadway and the sidewalk
The battle eventually broke down
And the crows went back to their palm trees
The seagulls headed west
The next day on my early morning bike ride
I saw flowers around the dead crow
Crows have funerals, but not like ours
They gather and inspect
They may mourn, but it’s mostly to warn the living of danger
and to remember what killed their friend
The Author
Micah McGurk is a writer from Kentucky. He studied screenwriting at UCLA and has an MFA from EKU. He works as a script doctor and ghost writer for a handful of directors and producers. He has two novellas, Crimson 37 and Boom Girl, both of which are available on Amazon. He also has a short story entitled My Face Knows Winter at the literary zine Prometheus Dreaming.
Micah McGurk, Richmond, KY
The last lines are my favorites in this poem. It's touching how the crows reacted to the death of one of them. Thanks for sharing!