i watched the swifts flying around in the onsetting rain. the prequel to the storm that's coming tonight. they didn't seem to care. at first i glimpsed a flash of black against the white cloudy sky, and i knew from it's shape and style that it was a swift (i've spent far too much time watching them to mistake it) and i thought that it's quivering wings and the flustered arch it flew across the sky was a sign of desperation. i thought it was fleeing from the rain, like most birds do. but then i saw it flash past my window again, so i left my bed and went to the window, and i saw that there were in fact 2 swifts. they were chasing each other across the rooftops, around and around in the same circle, out of my sight behind some buildings and then back around in front again, past my window. they looked as much as if they were enjoying it as they do when they're tiny pin-pricks flying higher than you could imagine in a blazing blue summer sky. i wished then that i had a video camera, so i could film them flying around and around in the drizzle, flashing in and out of view, with the backdrop of greys and browns of the wet town, and the doves grinding out of my cd player behind.