"Gull" by Mark Mcwatt

 

My son brought home a seagull

with a damaged wing

his mother and sister helped

him fuss over it and feed the wild, ungrateful thing.

They treated the raw, unfeathered 

patch and tied the drooping limb

 to its body with strip of cloth;

deciding not to name him yet, 

they placed him for the night

in a shoebox lined with an old towel

complete with plastic tot of water

and two smelly sprats, procured 

with difficulty at such short warning.

The boy guessed all would be right,

 come morning.

In fact the thing died.

When I checked before breakfast, it

was stiff, and rank death

had already attracted a phalanx

 of tiny ants. My son said nothing; 

looked at it awhile, then

dealt it an almighty kick, box and all

and sent it crashing into the opposite wall.

so much for the nameless bird.

sister and mother were aghast, 

upset he could be so uncaring.

But l understood why he kicked it 

and aproved, beneath the mandatory frown.

I think it's right to kick at death, 

especially when you're young.

He was not uncaring, what he cared for

was life, the chance to see the creature mend, 

to release it and watch it soar; 

the lifeless form was cruel recompense 

for all the love and care he'd felt before 

and so he wanted no business

with dead things, his savage kick

 focused his argument more sharply 

than these words, and I hope for him

a life as fiercely free as he had wanted

 for that awkward, damaged bird.

Summary of the Poem "Gull" by Mark McWatt:

In "Gull," the poem describes an incident where the speaker’s son brings home a wounded seagull. The boy, along with his mother and sister, takes care of the injured bird, treating its wound, feeding it, and placing it in a shoebox for the night. They are hopeful that the bird will recover by morning, but instead, the bird dies during the night. When the boy finds the lifeless bird, he reacts with anger and frustration, kicking the bird and its box across the room. His mother and sister are shocked by his behavior, perceiving it as uncaring, but the speaker understands the boy’s actions and approves of them.

The speaker reflects on why the boy acted this way, explaining that it wasn’t a lack of compassion, but rather a strong desire for the bird to live and recover. The boy’s anger is a reaction to the death of something he cared for deeply, and the kick symbolizes his frustration with the cruel reality of life and death. The poem concludes with the speaker hoping that the boy’s life will be as fiercely free as he had hoped the bird’s life could have been.

The Gull often serves as a symbol of freedom in poetry, representing the idea of breaking away from constraints and reaching new heights. However, McWatt may also touch on the melancholy that accompanies such freedom, as the gull's flight could be perceived as a form of isolation, cut off from the grounding human experience.

In essence, "Gull" captures the emotional complexity of dealing with life’s impermanence and the youthful desire to see life triumph over death. The boy’s act of kicking the bird is not an expression of cruelty, but a raw, instinctual response to his inability to change the inevitable.

Themes:

• Life and Death: The poem explores the complex emotions tied to life and death, especially in the context of youthful innocence and the desire for life to flourish.
• Hope and Disappointment: The boy’s initial hope for the bird’s recovery and the disappointment of its death reflect the struggles of dealing with failure and loss.
• Freedom and the Natural World: The boy’s desire for the bird to recover and fly again mirrors a yearning for freedom, both for the bird and for himself.
• Emotion and Expression: The poem contrasts the boy's emotional reaction to the death of the bird with the more controlled, societal expectations of how one should behave in the face of loss.

In essence, "Gull" captures the emotional complexity of dealing with life’s impermanence and the youthful desire to see life triumph over death. The boy’s act of kicking the bird is not an expression of cruelty, but a raw, instinctual response to his inability to change the inevitable.