Mussel Shell

In the dunes, I found an empty shell.

Amidst the rushes, a retreating seagull

Stole away for a private meal.

He could have pecked through the shell, but

no evidence supports that story. More likely,

The waning tide exposed it in the estuary.

The gull spied and prized the mussel,

and dropped it

on the shoreside rocks

to crack it open.

Nature has a way of cleaning up after itself.