Thursday, February 08, 2007

it is snowing in the North

By Adam Gibson ©

over Dundrum Bay
up to the Mourne Mountains
across Belfast
the girls with straightened hair
and bare legs in school uniforms
in zero degrees
don't worry
the men with scars on their faces
and close cropped hair
don't worry
it's snowing in the North
they have unboarded
the formerly boarded up shops
the have fixed the smashed glass
single lane roads are dusted with white
the radio announcers speak in
a lilt that sounds like
everything they say is a joke
a hot chocolate in a bus terminal
the bus has broken down on the road
to Newcastle
the Seafare fish shop
is doing a roaring trade
a frozen woman on a corner
asks me for a penny
or a quid
i pretend i don't hear her
and i feel bad about it
it's snowing in the North
it's white
and things are broken
but they're still green
underneath
and starting to grow
readying for Spring

No comments: