Winter 2050

Winter 2050

Queen Winter has spread her Ermine cloak
across the sleeping town and field
And turned the branches silver with her icy kiss
She has planted upside-down blooms,
pinnacles of glass,
on gutter, eave and porch

Virgin cream hills,
like platters full of marshmallow
circle about the now pale town
and the thudding silence overwhelms the fearful living.

Softly and slowly she breathes
turning the air to feather powder flake
Now she is all conquering, the battlefield is silent
As the defeated population watch her dance
She glides across her snowy ballroom,
following her lover, the North Wind
who artfully moves her frosty steps

The elders of the town shiver and shake and hide inside their homes
afraid to gaze upon the beauty of her Waltz
Only the young, and the young at heart
join in to dance and play in the folds of her cloak
'No school! No work!' they shout with joy
'Only play and carefree days ahead'
But her dance is quickly over

Her nemesis, King Sun, prepares for battle as she dances
rouses his bride, the warm South Wind
And drives her back to Northern castles of ice
As elders rejoice and children weep
when all that remains are the puddles of her tears

Another year will pass as she sits on a crystal throne
and plans her next invasion,
While her husband whispers dreams of children
into sea shell marble ears

BT Gorman
Portsmouth