As a child I walked to school

As a child I walked to school

Up to my knees in snow

Higher than wellington boots

Ice cold toes,

Soaking wet socks

Frozen to the bone

Rolling for fun

Snow falling from branches

As the Crows flew

Shaking the bows to cause a dusting

As we played

Surrounded by Christmas trees.

The lights twinkle brightly come December

Walking through the neighbourhood

Admiring the display

We were a bunch of tourists

Pushing babies in handcarts

Singing Carols for our supper

As the goose got fat

Collecting pennies

To spend on presents for our parents

At least that is what we said

There was something magical

About a snowfall at Christmas

When we were children

We built a bonfire

Cooked potatoes in their skins

Baked in ashes

The carbon whitened the teeth

People came from the city

To buy the trees

If I remember rightly,

It was a money-maker

For the farmer

Mister Cutler

He had a shotgun

Fired it over our heads

If we played in his corn

But paid us well for gathering in

The potato harvest

It was always the first week or so in October

Before the frost came

When we could still camp out

In the back field

Guarding our bonfire

From the kids

Who lived on the other side

Of the recreation ground

It was a game,

We played each other at football

You would think it was the world cup

But we were great friends later

Teammates for the school

Some days it seems just yesterday

The trees were laid out as saplings

Equally spaced

With room enough to breath

Standing now among them

Fully grown

In a tangle wood of branches

It is a wonder

Where on earth the time goes

When the mind fully turns

To looking out for it