Black-Backed Gull

It banked and wheeled
and dipped into an angle

a feather-tip its stylus
to the ruffled wave

a compass bearing distal 
points of eye and wing

the air a whisper in its traces
stretched taut and held with purpose

a perfect and harmonious line 
the gulls black arc a measure

sheering through translucent air, 
it cuts a curve to far below

the sea a mask 
a fish in sight