EVEN ON DAYS LIKE THIS... (My new poem inspired by Sue Nichol's painting of Staithes, North Yorkshire...)

 Even On Days Like This…

(Inspired by Sue Nichol’s painting of Staithes, North Yorkshire…)

It is February but at least the temperamental, charcoal North Sea

Tides hurl in the occasional crab, or gutted fish to scavenge,

Despite the need to paddle through thick wads of gruesome weed
Which entangle themselves around my spindly pink legs, as if to avenge

My irritable foraging, and squabbling over morsels upon which to feed.

Perched here, high above the wintering quay, there isn’t any human food going free…

That white chimney, centre of my view, reminds me of me, 

White body, yellow bill, minus the red tip, which I tell the chicks is blood.

Good spotting place though with fair camouflage in truth, from whence

I can gauge the angle of my flights, yelping on the swoop for human food,

Although the wait, the poise, the lift-off and the timing can all be tense,

The element of surprise and the beak-watering hunger is generally enough. The rest is history…

On days like this there are no easy pickings of ice-cream or chips though, 

As I loiter upon a pink roof, which reminds me of a salmon

I once gorged, incidentally. Rain is falling and the sky is as grey as a languid seal.

See the gull shivering on a roof ridge to my right? He’s from Whitby and a bit common.

Doesn’t have the nous, or the frown (have you seen my frown? It’s the real deal…) 

All human life ain’t there today. Just roofs and tiles and, a vacant harbour, all for show… 

Pete Ray…

15th February 2026…

Just wanted to see the painting through the eyes of a herring gull.

No visitors carrying bags of chips or pasties. No holidaymakers scoffing ice-cream (or if you’re from Chipping Norton, a canned sardine, caper and tomato sandwich…)

I love herring gulls.

They are what they are.

And they should all be called Brian…

A source of mine looked at the painting and expressed the following thoughts: 

'The sea horses are riding in from the dark green-grey North Sea as the wind whips them forwards towards the coast of North Yorkshire. They seem rather menacing and are riding surprisingly high.

Behind the safety of the harbour wall the rooftops of Staithes appear as the arms of a mother protecting a child. Some are a pinkish peach in hue suggesting warmth and comfort for those inside. 

There are no people out on the small sandy area of the harbour on this windy, blustery day and the texture of the paint indicates that rain may be lashing down, confirming that this is most certainly not the best day to be outside, even if the air is bracing and healthy...'