Just when I was feeling it was all too much,
I woke up to snow. The dog in a drift
gave me my first smile as my eyes
encountered the garden.
She was eager for a walk
so we ploughed our way out, and all
around the streets were shouts
from children, with sledges and snowmen,
while their parents talked
on doorsteps or mended things
that had waited for a day like this.
A boy confided,
as he patted the dog, “it’s like Narnia now”,
and I saw, with a shock we were
out of the wardrobe, every branch
laden, proud.
“If only it were Christmas,”
a small girl sighed, “it would be perfect.”
Tomorrow,
as warm air invades, this snow will melt
to reveal the debris underneath,
but as I took off my gloves and put away
the lead, I leaned, for just a second,
against relief.