This summer – the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain – we have been treated to many sightings over Kent of the few remaining airworthy Spitfires, as they make their way to airshows and special events. I wanted to voice my own respect for this aircraft and those who flew it. I hope people get some sense of this from the following poem written over the month of August 2015.
Lone Knight (Spitfire over Kent)
What is it about you that makes me point and wave,
To rush to the open window with a child’s heart,
And hope that you will tip your wings to me alone,
As you make your gallant way?
Rolling over hills lined up like casks of warm ale.
High over the vale where ironed fields are laid
Like napkins at an ancient table,
Set for you to tell your hero’s tale.
For a moment, I lose you among puffed-cheeked clouds
That hang from the sky like washing from a line,
Among the swifts and swallows that swoop and dive.
But then your throaty song returns.
For this lone knight, no longer our chariot of fate,
Must continue on its way, for charity and the fete.
To thrill the crowds and cast its spell
To protect, to serve, to save the day again.
Simon Denegri, August 2015
Simon Denegri Poetry 