Now the swallows are here, the year throws off its cloak | Alex Preston

The arrival of the first swallows is cause for celebration, but we should also think of others making the perilous journey to reach usLast Wednesday, early evening, the Kent-Sussex border north of Rye. I was driving home under an immoderate sky, the hawthorn around me frothy with blossom, when I saw them. Coming up the slope of the hill in front, they flashed past like thoughts and were gone, but I knew that the year wouldn’t be the same again. As usual, Ted Hughes put it best. “What