high above the pale blue winter sky; O' what a marvel of sights
as flapping wings rise & fall constantly changing in shape, likea thousand angels in perfect accordance spiralling patterns all
across the universal skies whilst the twinkling stars look on in
praise through the windows of the galaxies...
As the harsh north wind blows & the bare winter trees sway, red
throat Swallows glide in agile flight over the mountain-tops high
above the rustling belt of the seas that girdle the shores way down
below; Cruising southward in the wide starry skies, they gasp in
wonderment and gracefully wave their long tail streamers in shy
greeting to the majestic sparkling stars...
As the howling north wind now becomes a distant sound, flocks
of dark glossy blue-backed Swallows pursue their flight through
western lands across the Pyrenees and high above the Straits of
Gibraltar, gliding further south across the vast Sahara where some
finally reach their destination, while others continue to fly tirelessly
deeper to the south...
As the long and perilous journey of the Olympian birds reach an end,
the awestruck stars sigh in one voice : O' what a performance of amazing
feat of strength & endurance! And now the glossy blue-backed beauties
twitter loudly in the only language they know, responding to the song
that summer sings and 'readying' happily to forage over wide open
pastures of green all through winter until spring...
As April draws close they prepare to retract their long route northward
bound where spring has yet again proclaimed the throne of the seasons
and where the soft warm sunrise awakens the yawning earth as daylight
melts the dawn - awaiting the Colony of Swallows soon to return to these,
their northern breeding lands... poem by Wajia-Patricia Bühl
