Standing in a town at the turn of winter into summer, the speaker listens to everything around them and can't quite decide what it all means. Factory noise drills into the walls, yet birds are singing, or maybe shouting, and the poem keeps asking whether a sound is annoying or affectionate: "clamouring" or "love calls." That uncertainty runs through the whole piece. Dead leaves might be flowers or seeds, the air is "funny," the city is rusty but full of life.
The mood is restless, a little playful, and tinged with sadness. Spring and summer arrive through warm breezes, scorching sun, mango flowers and buzzing bees, but the speaker says summer is coming "before I leave this town," which suggests a departure is near. The last line, taking a full breath of that odd, dusty air "before I recede," feels like a farewell. The speaker seems to be soaking in the place, flaws and all, one last time.