WINTER WONDERLAND

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 later we were back
We had forgotten to wake the children

SNOWFLAKE

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

IT’S A SNOW DAY

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