Seagull Cinephiles

The flock swoops down and around

scanning the crowd and parking lot ground

for bits of discarded popcorn and treats.

After their circling completes, they perch again,

and wait for when the next crowd leaves.

Seagulls line the top edge of our cinema.

A special adaptation of a lower leg claw

enables them to sit and roost on high ledges

without being blown off. They wait

for litterbugs to provide for their fledges.

They are clever. They learn and remember.

They are carnivores, and scavengers,

opportunistic highly adaptable feeders.

They are our garbage men with wings

waiting for edibles somebody flings.

Their practice of kleptoparasitism

works both with whales and human beings.

They thrive by the sea, and in the city.

But are these cinephile city birds,

or just junk food addict converts? 

By:  Paula Dean Nevison