This is the ongoing tale

of a seagull called Flap;

not a chip-stealing seagull,

but a nice kind of chap –

.

here’s the thing…

Flap, only has one wing.

.

He was born that way,

many years ago,

so a one-wingéd life

is all he does know;

.

and, ‘Yes!’ I’ll answer,

before you do ask;

Flap ‘can’ fly,

but it’s a bit of a task;

he needs a good run up,

and a following breeze;

there must be a springboard,

to flex out his knees;

and when he is airborne,

by leaving the ground,

he doesn’t fly far,

just around…

and around…

and around.

.

However, Flap is of being an inhabitant of Looe,

as many fine seagulls are wont to do –

East? West?

(East is better, but West is best –

that should keep all the Looevians happy,

for they think that their side of the river

is the only side that is truly blessed).

.

Flap’s home should have been Looe Island;

where, at night, most other gulls went;

but, being unable to fly there,

walking the quayside was how he spent

his time, eating a crumb or a stale bit of crust; which was sufficient,

if rarely sublime;

but, needs must.

.

He did get to the island once in a while;

(as the crow flies it was less than a mile)

and he could cross the short distance from Hannafore on a very low tide;

or wait for the offer of a ferry-boat ride;

but, then, being stuck on the island

was also a pain;

for once he had got there…

getting back again!

.

Flap was a bit of a loner;

though he did make friends with a chip-shop owner,

who put a few tid-bits his way once in a while;

which treats Flap loved,

it caused him to smile

at the kindness of strangers,

of those with a soul;

for, not everyone hated seagulls;

but, Flap still felt a hole.

.

Flap wished for a mate,

a gentle gull to call his own;

not just for a date,

but for a family to raise,

on their island home…

and then in walked Phlip

a gull just like Flap,

one-wingéd,

what on Earth are the chances

of a thing happening like that?

.

Phlip was a pretty Polperro gull,

that had travelled to Looe for a change;

the posh people of Polperro

had pitied poor Phlip,

but told her that she looked, ‘much too strange’;

and, so, she had headed east;

east to find a mate;

and the day that she arrived in Looe

her life was to change,

it truly was an auspicious date.

.

Flap and Phlip

when eyes did meet

they knew they’d met the one;

and Phlip and Flap

did dance on feet

in the shimmering rays of the setting Looe sun.

.

But, how to get to the island?

.

Flap had a left wing;

Phlip has a right;

by holding close together,

together…

they took flight.

.

And now they live upon Looe Island,

where they have made themselves a nest;

and do they have plans for babies?

well, I think you can guess the rest.

.