When William Blake wrote and then published Songs of Innocence, he intended it as a children’s book that could be appreciated by adults…I had exactly the same thought when I wrote Diary of a Shapeshifter from which the following sequence is taken.
On this clean cold winter day
The sky is clear cold blue,
On this clean cold winter day
The snow is soft and new.
On this clean cold winter day
A single robin sings,
On this clean cold winter day
A church bell sharply rings.
On this clean cold winter day
The trees are black on white,
On this clean cold winter day
Everything’s just right.
Snow Scene
White silence
And up the path
A single set of tracks
Set boldly out
U-turn swiftly
Leading back
To a cold wet black cat
Hunched up
On the doorstep
Angrily licking her paws.
Ghost-whispering
Skim an ice-chunk
Across a frozen pond’s
Glittering skin until
It spins whispering
And if the ghosts come
Fog-drifting through twisted trees
Don’t stand your ground
And don’t look back
Just run…
Christmas
My Dad says
Christmas is like snow:
Exciting
When you’re little,
But a bind
Once you’ve grown up.
My Grandad says
That that just means
He’s jealous of me
And my sledge.
Kevin Patrick McCann