On Roofs of Terry Street

Television aerials, Chinese characters

in the lower sky, wave gently in the smoke.

Nest-building sparrows peck at moss,

urban flora and fauna, soft, unscrupulous.

Rain drying on the slates shines sometimes.

A builder is repairing someone’s leaking roof.

He kneels upright to rest his back.

His trowel catches the light and becomes precious.

(Douglas Dunn)