Winter sprays its frosty swirls,

Twists and turns on single glazing.

Icy kingdom: our back garden,

Downy flakes on dying roses.

Created and creative patterns,

Handprints small on frozen windscreen.

Icy kingdom, winter school run,

Endless hum of engines running.

Baking trays as makeshift sledges,

Contravening parents’ laws.

Making slides on whitened grasslands,

Carefree, crossing golden ponds.

Knitted mittens, snow encrusted,

Elastic linked, dried hard by fire.

Kids sip scalding soup, red faced,

Glowing with the winter’s heat.

Through the melting icy patterns

Life writ large through single glazing,

Snowman stands on sentry duty,

Traffic trickles tentatively on.