Norfolk Report

August 29, 1996

Out on the beach yesterday, standing on my drainpipe dock, I witnessed the start of a poem I couldn't write.

A sea gull had found some wayward Cheetos, those orange air-filled puff snacks that stain your fingers. The gull would select one Cheeto, dunk it in a wave to moisten, then swallow it whole.

"Sea gulls eating Cheetos" had such a lyrical ring, I had to pass it along