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.
.