Spring Sunshine

For the first time in far too long
The sun beams in the sky
And though its warmth is still not strong
My heart wants to reply

I know its time is fitful still
A prisoner on parole
And yet it starts to thaw the chill
Brings sunshine to my soul

3WW: A Roundel of February Promise

The landscapes tease with harbingers of spring
Their subtle clues a sign of thawing freeze
And rich regeneration new warmth brings
          The landscapes tease

While yet we suffer winter’s piercing breeze
Enduring life within its icy sting,
In melancholy dark’s firm grip we’re seized,

To meagre hope of better times we cling
And dream of summer’s merriment and ease.
With vibrant thoughts of nature on the wing
          The landscapes tease

The words this week are generate, meagre, tease


Ok, I'll admit that my very first though on seeing the prompt was "ooh, tease, that rhymes with fleas", and seriously considered writing about a lice-ridden werewolf to go with last week's dentally-challenged vampire. But that would just be overkill.

Snowed in some more

Inspired by Carry on Tuesday. Yes, it’s more whinging about the weather. Spot who’s English.

At once, the best and worst of times
An age to spend whole days in bed
To while the hours composing rhymes
As we can’t get to work instead

A time to criticise the trains
(They’ve cancelled all for three days straight)
To whinge about the icy lanes
Where stinking bins unemptied wait

When rumoured sightings of a gritter
Turn out to be a wishful thought
We try to treat paths with cat litter
But all our efforts come to naught

The Council’s left us all to rot
They can’t help, no, the snow’s too deep
The best way to deal with our lot?
Turn over and go back to sleep

Incidentally, A Tale of Two Cities is the only novel I can think of where both the first and last lines have become famous quotes. Can anyone think of any others?

Snowed in

The guy from ATOC said on the news that "if they're patient, travellers can get where they're going". Clearly he hasn't tried travelling from my local station. Meanwhile, local radio advises train passengers to "check before you travel". Fair enough, but with the National Rail website, special severe weather helpline and regular helplines all inaccessible due to the sheer amount of traffic, quite tricky to achieve unless you're psychic.

Think travelling by road would be better? Well, some bright spark had the idea of ploughing them without gritting, so the roads are sheets of ice, with nice high snow banks either side for the cars to skid into and get stuck. I didn't like to take any pictures of people digging themselves out (some photo-journalist I make), but here's my favourite set of skid marks, beautifully slaloming into the distance

The lights are flickering now, so it's anyone's guess how long we have before the electricity goes...