A poem for Christmas?

Hark! The angels sing... of pain and loss and inadequacy in the face of tragedy!

Here's a winter scene from my recent full poetry collection, The Green Dress Whose Girl is Sleeping (Freight Books, 2015).

Order a copy here, spread the Christmas cheer! Everyone likes a fish in their stocking.

Heading to the Corner Shop on a Winter’s Day

The air shattered

in a scream which I followed, pounding,

and found a woman lying

snow-angel still on the ice

repeating, half choking, half heaving,

my baby, my baby –

Two men lifted her forward, slowly

unfastened the sling from her shoulders, held her

away from the crushed sack of limbs

as we telephoned.

It was something none of us could take

or leave, so we stood

together, separate

in a limbo of stillness and dread

until the useless immediacy of the ambulance arrived

and we were relieved.



Russell Jones