Sunbirds

It's time to pack things:
things stored away for a year;
the fleece clothing, waterproof jackets
and walking boots.
The nth degree has proved
to be the forty third centigrade:
post-shower sweats, sun-slitted eyes
and sleepless nights
drive the white-skinned fools
north to the green mountains
of the Basques and the vacas
and hearty food.

But,

it is time to leave
this land of harsh sunlight,
heady flowers, bright butterflies
and hot-desert winds.
The time away will pass
and the return south will evaporate
through mountain passes, wind-farmed plains
and autopistas;
will broach the valley and
September's balm to where
the light comes, from dawn to dusk
filtered by southern mountains.