a gulp of swallows
The days are warm and humid. The nights offer compensating cool. The gardens are full of produce and, yesterday, we made our first stop at a roadside stand to get apples. People say “feels like fall.” On the weather channel they call this “hurricane season.” We turn the calendar on the kitchen wall to September.
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Fall is a month away, but the birds know the time of year. They flock with a sense of urgency, even desperation.
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A flock of swallows is called a ‘flight’ or a ‘gulp.’
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gulp
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barn swallow (Hirundo rustica)
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Flight of swallows
against blue sky
gapes, as thousands
thicken cables,
telephone lines,
weather reports,
gossip. Feels like
fall. Birds follow
clues of day length,
temperature,
scarcity of food.
Gulp of swallows
expands, contains
every straggler.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2019
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All my best,
Jane
nichepoetryandprose 
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