The Dog Days of Dumfriesshire




23rd July
She lies flat on her front, fifteen,
and sees a bee fly under
thin weaves of grass.
It disturbs the spiny seedheads
and skims on. It seems
so purposeful.

Tall sky, duck-egg blue, scud cloud, winds easing


30th July
The dog sleeps dreamless
by the garden pond.
The life of frogs
is full of luck.
She envies beneath the marigolds
a dim paradise of beetles.

Long sky, arsenic green, with mottled cirrus, humid


7th August
Chicken shit and lichens dot
dry concrete flags. Self-seeded
in the cracks, the tender
leaves of columbines.
She paints her toenails
carefully above the dust.

Bowl sky, Palnackie blue, cloudless, hot


19th August
Lawn grass too long uncut
is bent, dew-spangled.
A droplet quivers at a Landrover
gone burring up the brae -
and then it stills.
There’s no reason to wait around.

Cranefly sky, hammered silver, high altitude nimbus, no wind


23rd August
The baler’s stuttered rap
loses ground to the tow
of a warm front spooling
out of the Atlantic. She goes back
to watching a red kite turn
like a thought, on a thermal, before storms.

Galvanised sky, loss-grey, mares’ tails, heavy rain


 

1 comment:

  1. Beautiful summers days. Exquisite imagery in your cameo set.

    ReplyDelete