seagull and sunfish

This morning
I watched a seagull
peck the death of a sunfish
deep into the pavement of the dynasty buffet and 10 other non-descript strip mall stores’ parking lot

The gull pecked and shook and tore and ground the
limp, lifeless, scaly thing
until the entrails slipped out of the tough skin
And the gull swallowed the bloody stuff down with its head bent backwards
in the cold morning air

And my ribcage was heavy with something not quite nameable for the bones of the fish and the bones of the seagull’s wings and the bones in the soil sequestered under the pavement
and my steady sternum ached for a newer day
even though it was only morning and the day was already new