72 Miles From The Sea - Paul Curtis (desktop ebook reader TXT) 📗

sheltered lowlands
In valleys by the acre
Dusted white as if
Sugared by a cake decorator
A picturesque fairyland
A scene of pure delight
Viewed through a window
You avoid the winter’s bite
Trees stripped bare
Dressed now in ice and frost
Shiver in the wind
Longing for the summer lost


A WINTER NIGHT

Like a ribbon that's spun
Of the purest of silk,
The road crossed the cold bleak dale
It appeared that the frost
On the wintry panes
Was embossed with images from beyond the pale
And the winter-sky,
Lit with the moon and the stars,
Made the icicles glow in the night-
And the beauty of all
Of that December view
Was perceived in the essence of light-
And deceived by the soft...firelight.


LET IT SNOW

The north wind blows it ills
The wind, the wind, the wind that chills
Then the snow falls on the hills

The north wind softly blows
The wind, the wind, the wind that slows
Then the snow falls down below

Silently falling although the night
Inch upon inch covering everything in sight
Fresh and clean lies the white

The children run in hat and glove
They run, they run in the snow they love
The snow that flutters from above

The north wind dies away
Then the rain, the rain spoils the children play
But the snow will come another day


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 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


MR GLISTEN COMES TO TOWN

The snow has come its falling fast
Its 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”


OH DREARY WINTER

Oh dreary winter
You have over stayed
Your grey skies
Are not welcome
I know spring is close
I look at the grey lake
With the duck on it
The only splash of colour
In the late winter landscape
But I see the hints of spring
Everywhere around me
And the promise of daffodils
Lilacs and butterflies
So winter its time to go
Your welcome is worn out


WHEN WINTER COMES

When winter comes
And the first snowflakes fall
Who is the first one in my thoughts?
Who is the first person I call

When winter comes
And there is a fresh fall of snow
Who makes snow angels with you?
Is it that you’re the best angel maker I know?

When winter comes
And there’s fresh snow on the ground
Who builds the snowman with you?
Is it that you make the best snowmen around?

When winter comes
And we spend all of our time together
Have you ever wondered why?
Do you think that I just like the snowy weather?

When winter comes
There is a reason why every winter I call you
It’s the same reason I’ve had since we were seven
I’ve wanted to tell you but have been to scared to

When winter comes
The reason I pull off your wet gloves?
And the reason I gently warm your cold hands?
Is that you’re the one I love

BUT SOFTLY THE MYRIAD SNOW FLAKES FALL

But softly the myriad snow flakes fall
These infinite flakes of purest white
Like pure white down of angels wings
Floating gently from heavens height

But this is no heaven sent delight
This thing of beauty that cruelly lingers
For harshly touched is the naked earth
When touched by winters icy fingers


OH PRETTY SNOWFLAKE

Oh pretty snowflake
Gentle on my face
Oh delicate beauty
Like Belgian lace
Oh pretty snowflake
Thing of grace
You were here
Now not a trace

SNOWFLAKES ON THE DAY

Smoke curls from the chimneys,
And dissolves into the grey
Then the clouds in exchange
Release snowflakes on the day

Soon the air is full of white flakes
Filtering the sounds of life away
The land is soon under deep snow
Of snowflakes released on the day


DECEMBER, DECEMBER

December, December
The snow has come
Falling all night long
Kids its time to have some fun

December, December
Children playing in the snow
Skating and sledding
Faces all aglow

December, December
More snow will come
Then all through the winter
Kids will have more fun


FALL OF THE SNOWMAN

Here is a thought of little worth
Snowmen start their fall to earth
From Heaven above unassembled
And like a snow globe it resembled
But if a snowman were then desired
some assembly would be required

GREEN HILLS

In the lee of the mountains with snow on the ground
Sits a quaint little village with hills all around
No sign can be seen of the green grassy hills
For they lay neath the snow in the wintery chill

But the people are happy and get on with their lives
All the brothers and sisters and husbands and wives
For they know that soon the snow will turn to rain
And then they will see their green hills again

FLORA

MELLOW YELLOW

Like surreal yellow oceans
Vast fields of yellow rape
Stretch across the landscape
To an unseen infinity
The breeze ripples their surface
Whipping them up like waves
Ahead of an offshore wind
Driving them ever onward
Towards the hedgerow shore
While birds appear to dance
Above the custard coloured sea


THE MIGHTY OAK

The mighty oak
Is a universal symbol
A Representing of strength
both solid and dependable

The mighty oak
That stands today
Is simply a nut
That held its ground yesterday


SUNFLOWERS

They bloom in summertime
Blooms of golden orange
Heads the size of saucers
Unnaturally strange
They stand tall and straight
And super model thin
Large headed and skinny
Just like models again
Not grown for beauty
But for their numerous seeds
Ugly and ungainly
These giant unwanted weeds
Maybe I’m wrong to view them
As one of natures messes
But I can’t help thinking
They’re not one of God’s successes


BARK

Their whole life
Is etched into the bark
The trunks wear their story
To be read with the eye
Or touched like brail
Cracked and weathered
Like the face of an old mariner
Showing what was
And what is still
It protects like a pachyderm’s hide
Its the first line of defence
Against any aggressor
Then when the tree falls
It’s the last to die

FAUNA

BEASTS IN THE MIST

They gather in the full moons light
On lonely roads at dead of night
With shinning eyes that pierce the mists
They prey on passing motorists

Sure footed over rock and crag
A victim fresh to feast they drag
And all that’s left when feedings through
Is a baseball cap and a training shoe

No wolf or hound will prowl the moors
And ghosts and ghouls stay home indoors
So when shrill screams disturb your sleep
Beware the Cumberland killer sheep

THE GIANT ATTRACTION

In captivity panda’s suffer
Great indignity
They’re sexual failures
On display for all to see
KING GEORGE’S PARAKEETS

It was unbearably hot
Unbearably humid
Even breathing was exhausting
Overcome with fatigue
I parked my jeep at the roadside
In a shaded spot
I recline my seat
And pulled my hat over my eyes
And tried to grab forty
My shirt was soaked with sweat
And stuck to me and the seat
It was no good I couldn’t sleep
It was the constant noise
But not from the traffic
Rumbling by
It was the birds
Squabbling parakeets
Hundreds of them
Chattering and squawking
I gave up trying to nap
And got back underway
You come to expect this
Next to an Australian highway
But not parked in a lay-by
Next to a reservoir in Staines

PANDERING

The Giant Panda
To some extent
Is the architect
Of its predicament
Its choice of habitat
And fussy diet
Contributes greatly
To its demise, I regret


NIGHT OWL

The graceful owl
Hunts at twilight
And listens to hear
A victim in the night
Then swoops down
In silent flight
Not to prevent
Its prey taking fright
But fear of losing
What is out of sight


BIRD ON A REED

A reed moves
Under a birds meagre weight
The reed disturbs the calm water
Ripples echo outwards
Across the lake
Flat