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Tony
Turner ( - 2013)
first
published in South 40, 2009, ISSN 0959-1133
in
collection Dreams and Sudden Dangers, 2009,
Cherrycroft
Press, ISBN 978-0-9532900-9-3
An
English Winter’s Tale
With
thanks to Louis MacNeice
Oh
dear, oh dear, it snowed last night
The
city streets are cloaked in white
At
least three inches of the stuff
Have
blocked the roads, it’s quite enough.
So
it’s no go to school today, it’s no go to the office
The
wrong stuff’s on the lines today and the buses are all in the
garage.
The
Council has run out of grit
They
never thought it would come to it
The
teachers can’t get in today
The
children have gone off to play.
So
it’s no go the motorway, it’s no go the by-pass
My
bike is under a load of hay and I’ve lost my uncle’s eyeglass.
The
snow plough’s stuck at the Council tip
Behind
ten tanks and a rusty ship
They’ve
quite forgotten where it lurks
Or
even how the damn thing works.
So
it’s no go the shovels and spades, it’s no go brawn and braces
We’ve
all downed tools and we’re off to watch the local downhill races.
It’s
not that we really want to shirk
It
just isn’t healthy or safe to work
It’s
not that the roads are really icy
But
we’re not taking risks when the odds are dicey.
So
it’s no go production quotas, it’s no go the targets
Dad’s
gone down to the Rose and Crown and the kids have gone to Margate!
Tony
Turner
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