Windy Day
Driven inside, the cats
hunker down
And sleep their peaceful
dreams
In baskets by the stove
Unconcerned by noises in
the chimney
And gentle soot-falls
gathered in the grate
Every door blow-battered
Gust-clattered windows
Buffeted and blown by the
gale outside
Blasting the hedges sideways
in its fury
Tattoo-beating spurts of
rain
Like gravel against the
panes
Heavy water droplets
driven every which way
Casements banging in the
frames
And, above all else
The moaning and groaning
Howling and whistling
Of the storm venting its
fury
Against the brick-work of
the house
I think I feel the
chimneys shaking
Their prominent stacks
exposed
At the highest levels of
the air
And then the roof-tiles singing
In nailed and slated
resistance
To this unwarranted
onslaught
Upon their serried ranks
By clinging fast to hold
the line
And keep the house
together
Unsheltered, the flowers forced
flat
Leaning down against the soaking
ground
Bushes and trees bending
backwards
Revealing the paler
underside of leaves
Pressed hard against the creaking
fences
And down the lane, new
rivers run their courses
Silt and sand driven from
out the fields
Beneath the air-borne fusillade
Of twigs and leaves, and
scraps of paper
Swept far into the
distance
Beneath the blackened skies
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