A Poem For Today - Settling
KEN DICKINSON
Settling
for the sole gannet of the concrete colony on Mana Island
I'm built for long distance so I struck out alone when there was no room on the mainland.
I'm a competent swimmer. I'm hunter and spear.
I can pierce sky and water.
My head can be air, cushioned for impact.
My wings are magnificent.
I wondered how far I could go, that's all.
I didn't think I was looking for a calling
but it came blasting from a foreign shore, welcoming wind secured my landing.
The unruffled locals looked like me
except they didn't jab or stink or shriek
so I stayed, I fell in love with stillness.
I made her a beautiful nest.
Kristina Diprose
Nigel (died 2018) was an Australasian gannet[1]who lived on Mana Island, off the coast of the city of Porirua in New Zealand, where conservationists were attempting to re-establish a gannet colony on the island. He was the island's only gannet for most of his time there, and was nicknamed "no mates Nigel" and the "world's loneliest seabird". Nigel chose a concrete statue of a fake gannet as a mate and made a nest for it. His death in 2018 received worldwide media attention.
Sent from my iPhone
Fernando Aranguiz
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