‘Swallows’

By George Gurley

How they disappear in shadows

and emerge again in light,

returning as they leave,

escaping themselves in flight.

Synchronized, they flare.

Then, orbiting, repeat

their rounds in a ring of air.

Counter-clockwise they

rewind their lives,

reeling in spent hours

and winging them out again.

Two swallows, one after, one before,

brief bound in their freedom,

expiring forever,

apart, together, below, above.

Time in a sense is love.