Lay for the Day 22nd August

A seasonal song from the book of Praises:

69. Of Dog-Days

Plants overtop themselves,
insects hatch and hurry
and the breezes blow hot.

Beefy houseflies headbutt
the window. Clouds aground
on pessimistic blue

and the sidelong, catlike
calls of the sodium gulls
fill the glass of the world
with a fierce aquavitae.

Restlessly mobhanded,
the leaves are persuaded
in whispers to disband.
They glisten, shake and nod.

John Gibbens
from Collected Poems

The Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar