Yes it is that cold here in Weardale - weathermen assure us it's because the wind is blowing straight from the Arctic - and why wouldn't we believe them? So here's looking forward to spring:

THE DECEMBER PLANTING

When at last the school break came,
and the weather was unseasonably warm,
I took a bag of half priced bulbs
and planted them.

It was late of course.

I tucked their lime green sproutings
into a bed of softest crumbling soil,
blanketed them with fallen leaves
as deep a chestnut brown as any seen,
and hoped to fate.

This morning I went out to see my sleepy bulbs;
for fear some black withering decay might rob
us of a spring display.

Into the brown black leafy crust I tried to delve
but nothing gave – diamond frost sparkled
against a swirling frozen foam, like a rock salt
mulch. Either a tomb or a protection.

I am praying for a short-lived death,
a good New Year
and an Easter resurrection.

Sujen
January 2009