Lawrence Hall, HSG
Colin Cloute on the
First of January
And now is come thy wynters stormy state,
Thy mantle mard, wherein thou maskedst late
-Spenser, The Shepheardes Calender, “Januarye,”
23-25
The calendar year is advertised as new
But the slanting, yellowing sun is old
Almost weepy-eyed, exhausted, and weak
Beyond the icy cirrhus clouds of dusk
In a few weeks I will turn over the garden soil
A mediaeval ploughman with his electric tiller
Following the ancient seasons of the English year
Anticipating Lent and Eastertide
For now, the fireside and a comforting page
And a cuppa for warming the bones of age
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