I have tramped

I have tramped

Knee-deep in drifting snow

Down Long Lane

To the corner

Where snow ploughs

Cleared the way

And I saw the road again

Covered in salt.

You think I miss the beauty

The early morning thrill

The pinch of frost

The biting chill

The gentle sweep of the hill

But it is

A thing of nightmares

When the road is rarely clear

The cars don’t start

The trees are bare

The sky

A deeper shade of grey.

Yet beauty does still linger

In the single-leaf

Of burnished gold

The Robin oh-so-bold.

The cornflake snow

The white frost glow

The memories I still hold

Of winter’s grip

The bite of early morn

The hapless wrapped in cardboard

The frozen face

Of dawn.