War of kites and fireflies
buffeted on the breath that skates the hill
enlivening grass blades, shaking trees.
The prized sky is violet.
The razed haze of high English summer
refuses to move, like an incense-hued church.
The almost-steel night thieves gold.
The death of the day spells magic,
scattering letters of coal-coloured songbirds
wheeling and reeling above.