They swarm on the breath of a midnight shadow
glossy with the ink of stolen dreams.
Faster, towards a hurricane’s spinning wheel, faster-
draining the sky of its sapphire violet and dying sunset,
of fresh rain sliding down a windowpane.
As shredded paper, they settle on the hillside; paralysed.
Beautiful, stripped, like a shooting star.
Twinkling, as lost treasure under the ocean,
Arching in a slow cruise, their feathers burn to ash
and are taken.
Below, in fields the colour of squeezed limes, strawberries tremble in anticipation
until even the broken sky brushing their cheeks
~ matter no more.
Copyright © 2016 by Kate W J White (All Rights Reserved)
