the snow

to everyone’s surprise, the snow just stayed…

in spite of any milder air or sporadic spells of rain.

e-scooters were abandoned in cul-de-sacs:

their lack of traction a new blemish on their cachet

with the veins of suburbia perpetually clogged.

sunday league games were still cancelled day-of,

that single tether between each teammate straining

over pints of pissy lager in a run-down village pub—

the winger’s hangover story getting yet another run out.

roads to all the schools were heart-breakingly clear,

while roads back from work swallowed up commuters

whose hopeful tyres chewed on the carpet beneath.

but couples floated home above the hostile terrain,

lighter in the soundless postscript to interior conversation,

with bright faces pressing on against the inevitable cold.