Post 24 Swallows, Sun and Daisy Lawns

 

A DAISY LAWN     May 2020

Some gardeners like an all green lawn
So neat and flat and closely shorn
But, what a stunning sight to see
Is a daisy lawn; where bird and bee
And myriad insects feed for free

We sit among the sea of white
Enjoying fading evening light
And, as the sun begins to sink
The petals close; the lawn’s flushed pink
A beautiful and wondrous sight
The magic of a Summer night

There are ‘rumours’ of a heatwave in the UK. But I can’t confirm that we are feeling it in Wales .As I write, a brisk North Easterly is blowing through our sunny garden.

 In this part of Pembrokeshire, for the last month it has been windy, sometimes sunny, and quite chilly in the evenings. The swallows have returned to our lean to, and we sit in the garden and watch from a respectful distance as they dive over our ‘No Mow’ lawn, resplendent with daisies, clover and other ‘unacceptable’ weeds.

 But, in the past, we have had hot weather!

 In 1989 I wrote the following poem; inspired by watching the swallows who were nesting in our barn, swooping with screeching alarm calls on our lactating cat Minnie and her attendant kittens, who had the temerity to traverse the sun baked yard in search of some shade.

MINNIE  Summer 1989

Pepper coloured cat
Padding over the dry dirt
Hazy heat, too hot for hastening
Swallows screaming, swooping,
Banking low and fast past the grey barn wall

A sharp hot sun burns the ground
Leaves stir slowly with a brittle sound
Cold glasses full of liquid fruit
Firing off ice cubes
A slow warm murmer of voices, lazy with words

Pepper coloured cat
Steps slowly through the grass and grit
Ignoring the swallows’ searing shriek
The golden and silver brown striped kittens hide
Ready to pounce
As she stretches out in the Summer heat
Rolling and leaping
They finally settle on her willing teat

And all is still again
The swallow parents watch
The cats sleep
And the sun keeps up it’s steady, soaking
Summer heat.