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Seagulls couldn’t understand

if the scarecrow stood only

to scare crows

or them as well.

They held a meeting

in their community.

Some said

it didn’t matter.

They knew the human trick.

Some brought heavier ideas:

real people act like scarecrows too,

standing still

just to trap others.

Some said

never fly too close.

Watch from a distance first.

See what it does.

Maybe

it was only fabric

dancing with the wind,

a stick shifting

here and there.

“Humans can’t fool us

like crows.”

But then again,

what waited on those farms?

Ripe fruits.

Fresh soil after rain.

Leftovers humans forgot.

We are birds.

No laws follow us into the sky.

It would not be theft.

We consume slugs

and rattlesnakes

that slither through the fields.

Humans should thank us.

Maybe even leave food behind

as a kind gesture.

One seagull said

he had lived among humans.

Not all of them are kind.

Some wave their arms wildly,

as if the air itself belongs to them.

Some chase us away

for making a mess.

Reflective spinners.

Predator kites.

Plastic owls staring without blinking.

So many inventions

made only to frighten us.

“We must study these things,”

one seagull said.

“Otherwise

survival becomes difficult.”

Then the seagulls rose together,

forming a long chain

across the sky,

like a garland pulled by the wind.

Humans lifted their phones.

“Oh, what a sight.”