day in day out we find ourselves
bathing in our tears like gulls
crying for attention unnotic'd

we cry on the inside
because someone does not listen
we wail on the inside. . .hoping
that perhaps our need to feed will
help us get the freshest manna from the sea;

we make meaningless groans of distress
to the other gulls in flight at the 6 am hour
but nobody cares. . . the fight for food
and a place on the rock makes us anxious
and the rest of the flock just conforms

but every now and then, an atypical gull decides
"truly there has GOT to be something better than
hanging on the rim of the dock for the barge
to fight over fishheads and other corporate garbage;

and it flies to the other side of the lighthouse,
goes beyond the safety mark of the buoy,
fights off lack of direction creat'd by the
Fog of Indecisiveness back at the breakfast club and
takes off for what lies beyond the clouds of doubt,

and upon giving up eventually finds the palace of
Greatest Gull

the Master of a Higher Calling. . .
and every now and then
we may find ourselves
the atypical gull others tag as

weirdo. . .

uttering the Cry of Chiang,
it is a cry without meaning to those 
who want nothing more than fishheads. . .

but for other gulls who see
beyond the wharf,
even forgiving those other gulls 
who snatch'd up the last of the trash 
from your very mouth, if you forgive them,
if you reach out to them, and
they ignore your cry. . .
then seek the strangers
who want to learn
now to soar.  


© 2007 cynth'ya lewis reed
Note: Listen to inspirational message "Nightmares of the Past" (Click Audio File January 27, 2007)  from YTB Travel Founder & Chairman of the Board J. Lloyd "Coach" Tomer: www.yourtravelbiz.com/rta/Travel_Portal/coachs_saturday_calls.htm
     More on the Seagull's Lesson-Jonathan Livingston Seagull