Snow Story  

(for Susie)

 

           They say

 It’s not been heavier

           In eighteen years:

           This thickest snow

           Since your life began.

 

           Trace back

           Through the snow

 And we suddenly see

           The two of us

 Pushing up the hill,

           You in your buggy,

           Me trudging hard.

 

 How short a childhood

           Between two snows.

           In raw winter sunshine

           The bundled baby –

 Skin-bright, eye-bright

 Seizing a blanched world –

 Stood up and walked away

           Now visible

                Just

 Moving, always moving

 Through the departure gates

           Into the unknown

 

           While I trudge on

           Now downhill

           Through the snow.