Poem 15: Long Winter

Got up this morning, the sun so bright and no clouds above

It was the kind of day that I have been dreaming of

Ran into my neighbour and we talked about the weather

I hardly recognized him, haven’t seen him since late November

I don’t want to jinx it, but I think our spring has arrived

After the winter we had, thank God we survived

The temperature was so cold most of the season

You only ventured out when you had a good reason

Burned most of the gas in your car idling to get it warm

While cleaning off the piles of snow from the latest storm

We only had two options that were there to be chosen

Either being buried in snow or feeling like you were frozen

We just never seemed to catch one lousy break

It was cold when you went to bed, even colder when you’d awake

We didn’t even get a hint of a thaw in any way

The first flake of snow was here to stay

It piled up so high that my young fruit trees I couldn’t see them at all

But you have to remember they are at least five feet tall

Using the snowblower constantly was all we could do

That’s just not using one, but using two

So we kept ahead by moving the white stuff and making a trail

Never realizing how much trouble this would entail

Over the course of the winter, the piles would continue to rise

That’s when we found out we were in for a surprise

You see in the winter, snow accumulation can carry some weight

Now it was time to shovel the roof, there was no debate

You have to save your structure, it only makes sense

Now with all this new snow, it now cleared our fence

Now this wouldn’t be a big deal to some people I bet

But it becomes a dilemma if you own a pet

We have two dogs that roam in the yard all the time

Now they had these mountains to climb

They could scale these hills and be free to roam

It would be no problem for them to leave their home

So my wife decided she would put a stop to this game

After all we caused the problem, we were to blame

She built a barricade for them that was impossible to hurdle

The final piece was a sandbox that was shaped like a turtle

We can open the door and let the dogs go out and play

We can feel safe because there is no way they can stray

It’s been a few weeks and the mountain is now a small hill

They can try to clear the fence but I don’t think they will

The days are getting warmer and soon grass will have to be cut

It will be nice to get out of this long winter rut

We got through this winter and it’s been quite a feat

So when summer arrives, please don’t complain about the heat