SPREAD OF WHITE SEA.

A BOY AND GIRL IN A SUSSEX LANE IN WINTER IN SNOW IN 1961

Isn't it a lovely day
and O look at this snow
and how it covers
everything like

a huge great cloth
and the birds still come
to the bushes for food
and I love it

Jane says
and I meet her
by the back gate
of the cottage

and I look at her
standing there
in a woollen hat
and scarf and gloves

and a grey overcoat
and boots
and she's happy
and her eyes sparkle

as if candles
had been lit there
it's a bit cold
I say

opening the gate
and watch as the snow
that was sitting on top
falls to the ground

O you townie boys
this is how it is
in winter
here in the countryside

and where's your
big coat?
I have a jacket on
and an old scarf

and gloves
my mother knitted
and my jeans
and two jumpers

I haven't got one yet
I close the gate
behind me
so that next doors mutt

doesn't get out
onto the country lane
don't you have
winter in London?

sure we do
but it seems different
like an invasion
not a bit natural

as it seems here
I say
we walk down the lane
beside the cottage

the high hedges
are covered in snow
the ground is inches deep
in whiteness

I feel the coldness
bite at my toes
I look at her
as we go down

the winding lane
and she's so happy
so alive
and I want to hold her

and seep some
of that warmth
into me
but I don't

I just look out
at the fields beyond
like a spread
of white sea.