Snow

Threnody of snow through cables


Slung as monstrous garrottes between


Hunch-shouldered and nethered pylons,




Earth becoming silenced beneath


Fleecy quilting, embroided with


Tyre tread threads along seamless roads.




Urgent dashes of council grit


Sprayed like civic sick spewed across


Otherwise sober pavements. Youths




Drift in and out a cone of light


Yellow as dog-piss beneath soft


Street lamp. A cold confetti spills




Over them, a celebration


Of their mutual vow of life.


They giggle at swaddled oldies




Trudging by, huddled and hapless,


Oblivious that a sowing


Of snow is also a reaping




And how, without exception, each


Flake has its own unique bouquet,


Easily missed in a blizzard.




                                              Dave Alton