Welcome letter from Tom Nisbet, R.H.A., painter, wordsmith and poet, also a long-time writer of letters to this newspaper.
Thanks for taking me into the country, if only by proxy; it's a relief from the murders, rapes and horny theologists of the news. I used to enjoy short breaks in the Green when I worked nearby - often rewarding. One still, summer morning I was privileged to witness the full "ballet" of swans mating behaviour, exquisite! Mallards in season are quite improper and it's not uncommon for drake and drake to get together with manifestation of mutual pleasure; bad example, I suppose. I was touched by the spectacle of a Muscovy duck taking care of a mallard's extended family and heard an American lady remark that she - the mallard - must be very rich to be able to afford a Nanny. A friend thought the Muscovy may have lost her own brood and taken over the mothering of another's to compensate. And of course gulls, lots of gulls, always hungry and cruel. It was amusing to see them skating for crusts on a frozen lake, but I never liked them in town, however marvellous they may be, idly "floating" on wind currents at Moher or cawling contentedly at a small harbour. So let me comment on
City Bird
This is no way for a gull
to live
With angry bunches
Screaming over people's lunches.
This is no way for a gull
to live,
Diving on dust bins
Scrounging tips.
Scavenge all day and
screech and hate
Then homeward glide
In long V eight
And all the time his
dearest wish
To take a few days off,
And fish.
Tom Nisbet
His address, by the way, is Bird Avenue, Dublin.
Correction: Languedoc, in the South of France, appeared as Languedoo in yesterday's "In Time's Eye".