i was (am) writing an essay on the politics of vision in the english library and was (am) distracted. a flock of seagulls just descended onto the lawn of the courtyard. beautiful chaos with the white birds in flux against the dead ochre and grey rectangles in rectangles of the courtyard through glass / reflected in glass. they were there only for a minute. i tried to take a picture but by the time i had pressed capture they were gone.