The Brownfields of England
This “Go-Between” of a summer
the heatwave’s a marque
and hours and days repeat themselves
like a slo-mo film.
This chameleon summer
a hare jogging in a field
turns out to be a man
with his shirt off.
This unclean summer
rivers leave a low tidemark
and trees are barbered to a blister
in the drought.
This voluptuous summer
a man in a wide-brimmed sunhat
sits companionably with his rucksack
eating his lunch.
This high-kindling of a summer
boats are parched in dry dock,
a bird flapping its wings sounds
like a match being struck.
This summer of thermometers
the sky is an unbreakable blue
and an umbrella tries in vain
to black-out the sun.
This jigsaw of a summer
we try to make sense of the pieces
of the sun’s crazy paving
in the dried-up mud.