Tag Archives: Martins

on summer

talk of clear blue sky
and here it is, like crystal
devoid of hirundines

~

n.b. Where are the swallows, martins and swifts? I was lucky enough to hear their familiar squeals, then count seven swifts later this evening, but not a swallow or martin, above the houses, or down by the lakeside earlier.

CLP 24/06/2022

Following the Tractor

When the combine has cut through the wheat,

The bailer tidied all loose ends

And The Downs have felt the drag of plough and harrow,

Swallows and martins scour the chalk field in hundreds

A restless gathering, swooping, sweeping low

From roadside wires and hedge tops

Assembling their collective will to flee

Our gloomy, damp, autumnal land

~

One flits by, teasing my unleashed hound

Another, passes that close to me

I hear its fine wings feathering the air

~

This strange summer’s end comes nigh

Marked by the breath of hirondelles brushing our crumbled turf

Their fleeting farewell kisses of Northern earth leave no mark

When they take temporary leave for Southern skies

~

CLP  30th August, 2020