Crimson breasted
Perching on
a gate
Robin red
breast
Looking for
a mate
A hardy
suitor
Courting
and wooing
Proudly
displaying
In ritual
pursuing
Trying to
impress
To attract
a wife
So in the
spring
There’d be
new life
And for his
efforts
Amidst
winter hard
He gets to
appear
On a
Christmas card
The snow lays deep and crisp
And though
the frost is keen
In the
clear night sky, the heavens
In all
their glory can be seen
And bright
there shines a star
Standing
out from the jeweled sky
A star that
seems to call out
Sweetly
“Christmas is nigh”
The snow has come its falling fast
It’s time
to dance about and cheer
Soon it
will be time to build a snowman
I build the
same one every year
When the
snow is lying deep and fresh
I go to the
cupboard in my room
Where I get
his hat, gloves and scarf
And of
course his birchwood broom
Mum says
“don’t you stay out long”
But she
knows that I don’t listen
She knows
that it takes some time
To build
the perfect Mr Glisten
I always
start in the same place
And make
the body large and round
For his
head I roll a smaller ball
Rolling it on
the snowy ground
Soon he
stands up taller than me
Rising up
from the fallen snow
Each year
it takes a little longer
As like me
each year he grows
Down his
front go pebble buttons
From his
neck down to the floor
His stick
arms wear his gloves
Which don’t
really fit him anymore
Then I put
on his scarf and hat
His birch
broom stands by his side
Marbles to
make his eyes shine
And a stick
mouth smiling wide
Last the
carrot nose goes in place
And I step
back and a moment spend
Gazing at
the happy snowman face
Then I say
“Hello my old friend”
The motorway is closed
All the
schools are shut
It’s a snow
day, it’s a snow day
The kids
can stay and play
The buses
aren’t running
The car
won’t start
It’s a snow
day, it’s a snow day
We can stay
and play
The
gritter’s never did the job
The salt’s
still in the bin
It’s a snow
day, it’s a snow day
No work for
us today
It’s bad
for the economy
For us all
to stay at home
It’s a snow
day, it’s a snow day
Hip, hip hooray
What a perfect creation
Are the
snowflakes
Beauty and
geometry
Each
precisely fashioned
They float
to earth
Filling the
air
Like cotton
in a mill shed
Haphazardly
drifting
Individual
and unique
The
crystals fall
Like pieces
in an Impossipuzzle
To make a
perfect picture
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
The gulls
screech and scream
Swooping above the cliff top
While white horses ride the waves below
As the tidal surge is broken to a stop
Fishing boats appear to dance
Driven by weather to the south
And make slow progress in the swell
Bobbing towards the yawning harbour mouth
As the weather quickly closes in
The gulls desert the cliff top
Making their way inland to safety
Waiting patiently for the storm to stop
