The Predawn Cry of the Gulls

By Edd B. Jennings

The ptarmigan started up with the light.
They have that friendly barnyard sound.

The gulls in the predawn darkness,
crying from a great distance
strike a deeper emotion.

Men for ages, before setting out into the unknown,
must have listened to the predawn cry of the gulls
in the still darkness,

And must have shrunk inward a bit at the sound,
as they wondered at their strength.

      
Bio: Edd B. Jennings runs cattle along the New River in the mountains of Virginia.