Night flight into Manchester

(This poem is about returning to real life from holiday. For some reason in the UK we have a lot of orange street lights, which give a peculiar glow at night)

NIGHT FLIGHT INTO MANCHESTER

We saw the orange embers
from a great fire far below

leaving orchid and jasmine
for dirt and rain, then snow

I had looked for love
in an exotic location

not just vivid dreams
and the usual frustration

so many amber street lamps
give unnatural light

why not use soft yellow
or something just off-white ?

our flying metal tube
tilted through the cloud

flashes of the wing lights
and engine churning loud

the beach was gone
the sun was black

arriving after midnight
a poor coming back

to northern England
always damp and cool

the highest motorway
and the dark pool

of Pennine reservoir
and moorland bog

then the Vale of York
in a low fog

but how lush it is
in our field and dale

in tinder-dry Greece
the green shoots fail

for lack of rain
and too much sun

the scorching days
so slowly spun