A Letter to Winter

I had the great good fortune to listen to the amazing Salena Godden last week whilst running around the rolling Wiltshire countryside.

What an inspirational, intelligent, funny and sexy woman Godden is, I cannot wait to hear and see her live. Salena I salute you!

She read this:

POEM :: A LETTER FROM LONDON TO WINTER

Dear Winter

There is no easy way to say this but to come right out with it - We are finished. I will be honest there is another, I confess I have been flirting with Spring and this new dalliance has been in my thoughts for some time now.Now, this cannot come as a surprise Winter. You must have noticed a change in me, you have seen me blush at hints of buds, the nose of crocus poking through my frosted mud banks. Winter, its not that we didn’t have some great times. And when you snowed! Winter, you made me feel so Dickensian – And I mean that in the nicest way – Everyone says that, Oh London, look at you, you are so Dickensian. But I have never wanted anything or anyone more than Spring. The longing for this embrace distracts me day and night. How happy I will be in the arms of Spring.

Oh Winter you understand don’t you, we couldn’t carry on like this? We couldn’t keep up the pretence, I know you want more, you take over me, you keep my ponds frozen and ice up my pipes. We made sense once, but not now.

With Spring I feel I will be able to be myself again, my architecture will shine with a new golden light, my lakes and rivers will shimmer and mirror the swans, all the birds will come home to roost. I will be whole and green again. I need to feel young and new again, you do understand don’t you, Winter? I need to move on. I wouldn’t be surprised if you go running back to that Moscow. I’m sorry but she is so brassy with her Red Square littered with furry muff and sable coats. Please don’t try to deny it Winter, I know you better than you know yourself. I know how you feel about Helsinki too. Looking back I cannot believe I left Autumn for you, I want my ground to be soft and yielding again, I want greenery and finery not this starkness. Winter - You are so minimalist!

The fact is that lately I have been thinking about the lambs and the bunnies, Winter, yes I know we talked about this, and I said, I didn’t want lambs and bunnies, but I do now, oh I sorely do, I feel its my time. So please leave my key and go quietly. After you have read this I will decorate my Heath with daffodils, my parks with snowdrops and my canals with ducklings and trees in blossom of pink.

Kindest Regards,

London, England.