Fascinating to watch a small bird
Fly down the slope of a meadow
It pauses with wigs outstretched - middle of the air -
Then retracts its feathers fast,
Close to the body
Picks up speed in a dive
Its true weight revealed
In gravity’s jolt
Before it stretches to glide again.
This pause and sprint spaces itself
Out along the length of the hill
A mesmeric undulation
The ends at the top
Of a noisy tree.