YELLOW LEAVES

        

Coming back from the Library, arms full of bo0ks, I saw a single
yellow leaf in front of my feet. It was so beautiful on a day of
wind and rain and freezing cold..

YELLOW LEAVES

Before morning,
All the yellow leaves
Had tumbled
To the ground.

All those crumpled lives
Straightened out.
The long beauty
Plain for all to see.

There’s something about
Dark hours,
Unexpected sunshine,
The stoicism of love

That fills us
With thankfulness
And hope for the future.

Like children painting
Rainbows
On empty houses.

     ©2025 Gwen Grant

WOLF WIND

 Writing from a virus-hit January, the last thing we wanted to happen
was ferocious winds causing so much damage. But here we are, in
the middle of Nature’s rage and fury. I chose this poem to cheer myself
up and, hopefully, to cheer us all!

WOLF WIND

The wind comes wary,
Like a quiet wolf
Sneaking through the trees,
Watching what’s lying
In front of him.

This house blown down,
That tree uprooted.
The whole of one small town
Wrecked by the wolf wind’s fury.

Except for that little corner
Where Lovers plot and plan
       their glowing future.
Feeling the wolf’s sharp teeth
       nibbling,
They kiss and deny him.
Rap his nose and send him home
        crying.

       ©2021 Gwen Grant

PRIVATE KEEP OUT!  by Gwen Grant
published by Penguin Vintage  Children’s Classics
available in paperback and as ebook

SNOWDROP

              This is the time of year when, if we are lucky, we see snowdrops.  We’ll rejoice more
              than we usually do when we see them this year for the bitter weather has left us yearning
              for these delicate yet strong flowers.  The lovely sight of hope nurtured in the cold darkness,
               realised in the light of new days, will give us encouragement for the year ahead. 

     SNOWDROP

Little flower
Smiling at the bitter sun

Petal and leaf
Bright

With the fury and joy
Of new life.

Laughing at the
Iron fist

Of winter.

       ©2020 Gwen Grant

NIGHT WORK

It’s a very cold night and the wind is picking up strength, sweeping over the fields with
teeth of ice. So this is the time to wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR and may the coming
months bring peace and hope for all.

NIGHT WORK

A bitter night of frost,
Of frozen snow and ice so thin
It came in on the wind.
Sharp as knives, cutting uncovered faces,
Splitting flesh on poor cold fingers,
Promising a day of misery
With beauty in its pocket.

Down the long perishing road,
Houses huddled tight together,
Looking for warmth.
Brick walls cold as stone.
Frost rimed windows and doors tight closed.
Tall chimneys carrying the tiny warmth
Of dying fires into the freezing dark.

Into this cold silence,
Whispered words, poems and half-remembered prayers
Drift like wisps of smoke.
Dreams and reality
Bringing another world to this world.

Bringing hope
For as long as those
Who do the night work,
Work on.

©2021 Gwen Grant

HOPE IN TRAINING

I was cheered by the sight of rhododendrons full of tight buds, reminding me that, although
it’s still a long way away, Spring will come, the buds will open and their glorious flowers
shine out. Warmth and colour be in the world again.

HOPE IN TRAINING

Those tight little buds are waiting
For next Spring.

There’s no sign of hurry,
No hint of impatience.

In fact, just looking at them
Reveals an alternative world

To the one we live in.

©2021 Gwen Grant