JANUARY
Snow lies on rooftops.
Powder crunches on the path.
The garage is shut.
FEBRUARY
A thaw has set in.
Gutters become rivulets.
I get the van out.
MARCH
In the chill of an
east wind, daffodils can bloom.
Engine still needs choke.
APRIL
Buds plump on willows.
Showers batter the windscreen.
The roof starts to leak.
MAY
In weak warmth, cherry
blossom whitens the damp grass
and speckles the way.
JUNE
Late light evenings
make possible long road trips
and lazy picnics.
JULY
Regatta excites
when camping by the river.
We see rowers race.
AUGUST
You sit on the shore,
swim in cooling North-Sea waves;
sleep in cosy van.
SEPTEMBER
Sky’s deep blue, pink-streaked
as I drive into the night
and late birds fly by.
OCTOBER
Days growing shorter;
trees rust-coloured; roads glisten.
Headlights are switched on.
NOVEMBER
Wet leaves are falling.
Wipers go to-and-fro, to-
and-fro in the rain.
DECEMBER
I start the engine;
frost paints patterns on the glass.
I can’t see a thing.
Antony Johae (b. Chiswick, 1937) taught literature in Africa and the Middle East for thirty years. He is now writing freelance and divides his time between Lebanon and the UK. His collection, Poems of the East (2015) is published by Gipping Press. In 2019, Poetry Salzburg came out with After-Images: Homage to Eric Rohmer.
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