The Road to Winter
The road to winter starts
on the hottest day of the year
when we say, ‘will this heat never end?’
and Winter just smiles.
The road to winter passes
roadside stalls selling preserves,
jams, and conserves, because no one
could possibly eat another plum right now.
The road to winter is laid
with a carpet of colour,
as leaves leave the trees,
falling prey to the breeze.
The road to winter starts
later in the day and ends earlier,
daring you to eat dinner by five
and be in bed by seven.
The road to winter leads
to tinsel and turkey,
and a chorus of, ‘will this cold never end?’
and Summer just smiles.
on the hottest day of the year
when we say, ‘will this heat never end?’
and Winter just smiles.
The road to winter passes
roadside stalls selling preserves,
jams, and conserves, because no one
could possibly eat another plum right now.
The road to winter is laid
with a carpet of colour,
as leaves leave the trees,
falling prey to the breeze.
The road to winter starts
later in the day and ends earlier,
daring you to eat dinner by five
and be in bed by seven.
The road to winter leads
to tinsel and turkey,
and a chorus of, ‘will this cold never end?’
and Summer just smiles.
This poem is copyright (©) Melinda Szymanik 2024
About the Writer
Melinda Szymanik
Melinda is an award-winning New Zealand author of picture books, short stories and novels for children and young adults. Notable titles include The Were-Nana (Scholastic, 2008) winner of Children’s Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards, A Winter’s Day in 1939 (Scholastic, 2013) winner of Librarian’s Choice at the 2014 LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle (Scholastic, 2016) a 2017 White Raven selection. She also writes poetry for adults and children, and regularly teaches creative writing.
