THE SILENT DAWN

 

The six o’clock alarm

Breaks my slumber

I swat at the clock

Like an unwelcome bug

A single gesture brings silence

And I lie in the quiet hush

Silence! Why is it silent?

Where is the traffic noise?

The clinking milk float?

The boy racers?

The early morning bussle?

I leap from my bed

And rush to the window

I pause for a moment

Hold my breath in anticipation

Then pull back the curtain

And what a sight to behold

Snow! Snow! Snow!

As far as the eye could see

A vista of pure virgin white

The whole scene cloaked

In a deep shroud of snow

Shapes rose up here and there

From the thick carpet

Disguising what lay below

I search the scene for signs of life

And found none

The snow was fresh and unsullied

Just lying there, waiting

I turned and dragged the duvet

Off my sleeping wife

And responded to her protests

Saying “Snow! Snow! Snow!”

Half an hour later

We were fully dressed

And on the way out of the door

Thirty seconds we were back

We had forgotten to wake the children