Under Heavy Blankets

In the severe winters

Of our childhood

The wind roared

On rattling windows

Whistling haunting tunes

Through the gaps

The rain beating

On their thinness

It was close and fearsome

And thrilling

And frost when it came

Freezing the panes

Turned water to ice

In the taps

And we snuggled together

In double beds under

Heavy blankets peeping

At creepy shadows on the wall

I lay in bed now listening

To the wind blowing

On the double glazing

Of my middle age

Backing away muffled and muted

THE GREEN

We shared the scarcity

The borrowed cup of sugar

And clothes passed on

From house to house

Around the Green

Teeming laughing

Screaming children

Trolleys skates and hobbies

Running down the avenues

Fathers going out to work

In scorching heat

And biting cold

A life that took its toll

And Mothers ever present

Baking bread

In warm kitchens

Making ends meet

Out of the loaves and fishes

Of our limitations

The feeding of the multitude

Of life’s desires

Around the Green

Beyond the Green

And coming down the avenues
To home again and sound refreshing sleep

In the small rooms of our childhood.