My maternal grandmother often went to Queen’s Surf
Where she’d sit and feed the birds
They recognized her and would flock to her
Before she even walked to a bench and sat
Knowing bread was coming
It was love on both sides
One day a boy ran over and scattered the birds
While chasing them he fell down and screamed
Bringing his mother over
Who then filed an assault charge
Having sworn in a statement she saw my grandmother hit the boy
On the stand the woman said she came running over asking, “What happened?”
She’d not seen anything of the incident, the boy wasn’t injured
The case was dismissed
But my grandmother, traumatized by the trial
Never returned to Queen’s Surf to feed the birds
Lanning Lee 