From the Pier

From the Pier.

Seagulls dart about the remains of lovers,
the parts only a bird can sense.

Seagulls bicker over warm prints left
in sand, where bodies pushed boundaries
in the pale light of dawn
where soft sweat salted the skin, the mouth
the hands, eager to assume, to consume.

Beaks tear at phantom food
clack outrage at forgotten sounds
wings spread open with importance
heads reaching for the sun
mad birds of aftermath

scavenge the tears of one
and the spit of another

And i watch footprints separate
away.

by nadine sellers 2008