72 micro-seasons 28

Janey...

Quiet early day,

twin birches, branches entwined,

the wood- pigeons call

Helen...

Wheeling and squealing

Our swifts are back. I admire 

Their aerobatics.

72 micro-seasons 27

Janey...

Searching for a sign -

the perfect shell, white feather,

heart-shaped stone. 

But no.

Helen 27...

Plummeting gannets,

Such beautiful assassins 

Leave only a splash.

72 micro-seasons 26

Janey ...

Trying out their wings,

three hatchling gulls hop, flutter

on the rain-wet roof

Helen ...

Flowering Hebe

Humming with dozens of bees

Busy, then dozing.

72 micro-seasons 25

Janey ...

Bright the horizon,

storm-clouds chase across the sky -

sunglasses, cagoule...

Helen 

Everything is full,

Beds of blue geranium 

Spilling onto grass.

72 micro-seasons 24...

Janey 

And somehow the air,

now the heat has left the land,

holds a different light

Helen

The house flies are back

They are ever cleverer

At avoiding traps

72 micro-seasons 23...

Janey 

Only my footsteps 

and the early-day birdsong.

I become silence

Helen  

Late May: churchyard limes,

Luminous leaves spilling green

Light into clear air.

72 micro-seasons 22

Helen...

 Four candles, you say?

I’ll show you a horse chestnut

Bearing four hundred.

Janey...

The sweetness of May

upended in a poppy - 

nectar-buzzing bee