The sleet was ghostlike, laughing
with no purposeful intent
It came and covered nothing,
said 'Hi' and then it went
The scene unchanged remained the same,
damp and green and good
Half-hearted snow, that came tiptoe
all over Ashdown wood
A hiccup hardly noticed
in the thousand years or so
Of hunting grounds and industry
and sunny hours that flow
Today I stand and and watch the flakes
ephemeral and false
That dance in stately gaiety
to Time's unending waltz
Tony Gardner
