Awakened out of time

Once, January lay cloaked beneath a clean
Crisp sheet of driven snow or shivered when
Some Arctic blast shrivelled precocious shoots
Of far-off spring and blackened every stem,

And we would slide across a glassy sea
Extending over every pavement, track
And driveway til a pallid, slanting sun
Would briefly, weakly thaw but never crack

The mirrored surface, hard unyielding still
For our frostbound journey home to safe, warm rest.
But now the apple tree already stands
In bud; great tits in its hollows nest

And frisky squirrels bounce from bough to bough.
The tepid air is warming year on year
And though he should be sleeping through to March,
The fat old hedgehog starts to scratch and stir.

15 Jan 26