end of an old year:
dashed hopes and disappointments
lie like fallen leaves.

cold winter garden,
early morning cigarette:
smoke and steam my breath.

nests in winter trees
exposed by autumn striptease,
leafless, not lifeless.

orange yellow leaves
push through rusting Cheshire rails,
distant hills in mist.

in constant motion
shifting shape, direction too,
twilight starling flock.

broken wing pigeon,
fluttering at the roadside.
blood on clean t-shirt.

sinuous squirrels,
forage through the drying leaves,
finding sweet chestnuts.

a lost cat poster.
in the low autumn sunlight
hope fades like the ink.

row of horse chestnuts
all losing leaves from their crowns.
male pattern baldness.

diffuse morning light:
silhouetted on hilltop
solitary sheep.

'great place to shop' signs
cover abandoned shopfronts.
wind blows dead leaves past.

after summer rain
trees shed a second drizzle.
gutter now a stream.

leaves of red,gold, green:
the rastafarian trees.
first signs of autumn.

rosebay willowherb.
flowers ascending the stem:
slow motion fireworks.

trees are burnished gold
as the late summer sunset
paints the leaves with light

the scent of damp air,
after summer thunderstorm,
blends with cigarettes.

bursting from branches,
an explosion of feathers:
thrushes chase magpie.

parabolic swoop,
from the trees comes a blackbird:
i brake suddenly.

petals have fallen
rowan is pausing for breath
preparing for fruit.

al fresco dining
stuck between the table slats
half a cockchafer.

jackdaw listening
insects amongst the grass heads
a joyful leap - snap!

cracks in the pavement,
filled by the water fountains.
dabbling pigeons

flash of red in green,
a robin feeding its mate:
courtship by insect.

trees in right angles,
lorry-cut topiary,
lining the roadside.

ring road, Chapel Ash,
surrounded by roundabout
a sunbather lies.

walking into town,
mayflower scents in the air,
hayfever starting.

mayflower hedgerows,
waves breaking on the roadside.
high water, spring tide.

fresh leaves on lime tree
rub against the bus window,
blushing red with youth.

abandoned building.
pigeons on broken windows
watch the buses pass.

jumper in my hand,
walking the Tettenhall Road
in the bright sunshine:

dog roses peer over walls,
pavement spattered with goose shit.

spiralling around,
twisting and mewing on high:
crow mobs a buzzard.

hours before the dawn
a fox cries from the darkness
summoning the spring

pink snow in gutters,
covering cigarette ends.
cherry blossom falls.

elms haloed with green,
rookeries in the tree tops
will soon be hidden.

fog from the canal,
trees fade in morning distance.
last shout of winter.

shivering naked,
new buds at the branch ends.
soon it will be April.