In faith and hope 

we still drag out  

the recycling bins. 

 

Snow quickly covers  

our tracks, as if  

we had never been.  

 

The shop’s carved fox  

has swapped its Christmas 

hat for a white titfer.  

 

A sign says No Papers.  

The old woman who walks  

her dog in all weathers  

 

is alone today. I remember 

the pooch is rather small.  

She’s not impressed:  

 

A bloody inch of snow,  

and no papers! Three

of four inches, I'd say. 

 

Return home, head for  

the shed, fetch more seed 

for the bird feeder.  

 

I’m still a child when it comes, 

love the chaos it brings,  

the way it upends everything.