Gannet's Eye View

inspired by one of the BBCs natures great events programs

I am

Suspended in midair

My wings wide

As I hang on the mixing air currents.

 

Below me

An expanse of white-flecked blue

And around me

A thousand other spread wings.

 

We are

Waiting as one

A single body

A collected thought

 

And then

Backs break the surface

The curvature of spines

As bodies slide beneath the surface

 

And we’re

Following as one

Flying on a single wing

Supported by a thousand bodies

 

We’re two

Creatures now

The winged

And the curved backs underwater

 

There is

Thousands of each

And yet still only two

The rest are still to come

 

And now

Another is in sight

A corridor of silvery bodies

Dark blue beneath so much water

 

We’re above

Them now and we hover

Waiting for the curved backs

To round them up

 

And it’s

Now or never

No time to hesitate

Once you’re diving

 

Wings held

In a dart

And we’re falling fast

Toward our survival

 

Last minute

And wings pulled in

Aero-dynamic to the extreme

For the smoothest entry

 

Smallest mistake

And we’re dead

But we’ve survived impact

And there’s no time to stop

 

Ten metres

Down in the blue

And a silvery body flicks past

Too quick but there’s plenty more

 

The backs

Have become whole creatures now

Curved noses and flicking tails

Predator eyes and teeth, teeth, teeth

 

They work

Together herding expertly

Whistling and calling in squeaks and clicks

Pulling off elaborate dances with the silver flocks

 

Now is

My chance. Into the silver

And a slippery body’s in my beak

Sliding down my gullet

 

Back up

To the surface

And the winged creature

Is a diving, floating, swimming being

 

So there’s

Three: the winged

The curved backs

And the silver

 

Well here’s

The fourth: grey bodies sliding silently

Black pupils and open gaping mouths

And more teeth than I’ve ever seen

 

Not skilled

Like the curved backs

But effective enough

Chasing silver to the surface

 

Wide open

Mouths and the teeth catch

More silver than I can hold

In my sharp beak

 

And now

We’re all dancing

Wings and backs

And teeth and silver

 

But there’s

One more to come

And the big is suddenly there

So big it’s mouth closes over whole shoals

 

But there’s

Lots of silver

Whole dancing spheres of flicking bodies

Avoiding capture

 

Lots of

Silver. Enough for everyone

And yet dwindling

Escaping off into the blue

 

And now

We’re slowing down

Having to look for the silver

That no longer surrounds us

 

And Big

Is disappearing already

Many shoals of silver

Effectively disposed of into its mouth

 

And now

I’m lifting off

Becoming a winged thing again

Escaping the sneaky looks of the teeth

 

You can

See they’ve still got eating on their minds

So I’m off, air born again

My wings carrying me back to shore

 

And the

Backs are disappearing

The teeth too and the big is just visible

To my keen eyes as he breaks the distant surface

 

And the

Silver?

Half of them eaten, the survivors escape south

Leaving us for another year

 

Or longer

We never know for sure

We can trust only our wings

And the ocean currents