In response to a prompt at imaginary garden with real toads. Laurie Kolp’s challenge to write to the word miscreant. I saw a photo that Laurie had a link to that resonated, and just happened to work well with the word prompt too.
Company for Lunch
Just before noon our noses
find the source of wafting smells
fried potatoes and hot oil, a soupςon
of vinegar and salt, ketchup for non-purists
or non-Canadians. Chip wagon.
Chips (BE), French fries (AE), French fried potatoes (AE) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We order our usual medium fries, salt
and vinegar at the half-full point,
then another generous scoop of hot
potato, fingers of starchy yum.
Trail of Crumbs photo Credit: L. Kolp
My brother’s serving overflows, he drops five
leaving a trail of crumb-gulls,
french fry hawks and other
feathered miscreants to squawk
and hover, a flurry of wings as each
tries to steal a treasured prize.
In thirty seconds, no trace of spill remains.
A wary truce as birds move off to
wait for the next free lunch.
Carol A. Stephen
August 11, 2012
Quillfyre 
This is awesome!!! I love it. And that poem had to be good to steal any of my attention away from that photograph. Those look so delicious. :)
“fingers of starchy yum” … I LOVE this!
Ha, thanks so much! Yes, they do look delicious! Carol
I LOVE this….so Canadian!!!!!
I actually have a friend who owns the chip wagon…!
C
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Carol, I cant find your email – would you please e me at WildWoman2@shaw.ca???? Thanks, kiddo.
This is such a fun poem. Truly those birds learn where to find their free lunches!
Yes, they do, don’t they? C
Very nicely done, and quite so on the Canadian part too! :-) My son always leaves left over fries for the winged miscreants who like to sit on the edges of our picnics. They are great fun!
Thanks! Yes, nothing quite like an overflight of gulls to share the feast! C
Nice one Carol…..reminds me of eating chish and fips beside the English Channel on the prom! Although I am in inspiring PEI I have a bad case of writer’s block….too much lobster and clams! Later, Bryan
Oh, nice, Bryan! The PEI part, not the writer’s block. Sometimes the sea does that to me. It’s hard to find words that do justice to the song of the sea, or to try to surpass it. Enjoy the lobster dinners! I guess we won’t see you at Hot Ottawa Voices, then? Carol
Yep, those gulls will snatch anything out of your hands. I like your use of miscreants here. Thanks so much for participating in the challenge!
Thanks to you for both the poem challenge and the photo inspiration, Laurie. Carol
Those “trails of crumbs” can become quite the battle ground. We used to live right on Lake Michigan and I loved watching the Seagulls.
I think many people hate gulls, but I admire them. I love watching them in parking lots: each occupies its own parking space most of the time. Carol
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I love this…I have left a trail for seagulls many times…
Haha, thanks, Susie! Carol