Wings unfold

The landscape shrinks compressed by heavy rain and grey mist.  Soft silver light veils the view of the tall-buildings in the city. The dried out stream in the woods has burst to life as water pulsates down its pathway. Robins sing in the shrubs on the entrance to the woods, some dash from tree to tree, quickly escaping bombardment from lozenge shaped raindrops. There are a few seeds left on the white plastic tray behind the Rose Garden in Middleton Park, a hidden feeding place for magpies, crows, robins, chaffinch, blue-tits, blackbirds and thrush. A chaffinch picks at the seeds on the tray, some fall to the ground to be eaten by the rats who inhabit the shrubbery nearby. Rain drums on my umbrella, I have never really paid attention to the sound. I start to notice the speed and thrust of the raindrops. I stop by the lake and watch one of the swans grooming, amazed by the length of its wingspan.