Wild Swans of Torquay
Queuing in a traffic jam
driving to the seafront
pre-dusk.
Emerald, garnet and diamond
illuminations flicker.
Oblique shadows
crisscross the road.
Dwindling rays glance off
wing mirrors and chrome fittings.
The sea soothes in soft grey,
Devon rock blushes as
tourists hurry away,
search for their cars or wait for buses.
Baristas fill gleaming coffee machines
and scrub their silver cutlery.
When above this fracas
fly, a pair of whitest swans
dominating sea and sky,
stretching out their arm-like necks,
wing-heavy in their final thuds
to rest their epic flight.
Swans!