The Snowman

A snowman looked into a valley

Lit up by a silvery moon

And he saw that the time of the people had passed

And that all would be sleeping soon

And a million white snowflakes were sparkling

As the stars blazed so bright in the sky

And the snowman stood silent on the hillside

As he watched a small boy passing by

But the boy paid no heed to the snowman

As he watched every footstep break through

The white crystal carpet that covered the land

No longer unbroken and new

For that night the boy was an artist

His canvas the snow-covered ground

And his brushstrokes made patterns that peppered the slopes

Of the hills he was walking around

And the snowman looked on whistling softly

Secure in the knowledge that men

Never hear the soft whistlings of snowmen at night

To which snowmen are prone now and then

When suddenly the boy stopped in his tracks

Turned slowly and cocked his head

Listening in silence to the silent tune…

“Ah – it’s only the wind” he said

But he saw the snowman on the hillside

Bathed as it was in silvery light

And he walked up the slope on a whim to be with

The crystalline man of the night

Then they stood side-by-side, boy and snowman

Looking over their wintry domain

And the boy whispered softly under his breath

“It is here I would choose to remain

I will stay ‘till the monochrome light of the moon

Concedes to the colours of dawn

And fresh fallen snow forms around me

To announce a new snowman is born

A coat of the purest, brilliant white

Shall be my sartorial pride

A carrot shall furnish my face with a nose

Two buttons will serve as my eyes

And if the people provide them

Some glasses will rest on my nose”

“But you’re like other men!” said the snowman

“By then my boy you will surely have froze!

The long winter nights are for snowmen

Little boys should be tucked up in bed

And we’ll meet once more in the morning light

When you come with your friends and a sledge

You’ll play at my feet, I’ll be as replete

A snowman as snowmen can be

And all will be right in the order of things

Little friend I’m sure you’ll agree

That you’re a boy and I’m a snowman”

The boy looked so sad then

And turned to face the snowman eye-to-eye

“If you’re not here in the morning” he said

“You’ll make a little boy cry”

“Then your tears will be mine” said the snowman

“As they mix with the melting snow

And we’ll be as one in the droplets of dew,

In the rain, in the water that nourishes you

Until next year when you build me anew

But now it is late, you must go”

So the boy said goodbye to the snowman

And returned to the warmth of his bed

With a glass of hot milk and some supper from mum,

“Silly boy, you’re half frozen” she said

Then he slipped into sleep so sweetly

And dreamt so deeply in bed where he lay

Of two snowmen stood side-by-side on a hill

On a beautiful, bright winter’s day