There's no such thing as bad weather

There's no such thing as bad weather,

just poor clothing choices

              After howling winds

that whistle wires in larynx,

pulling on warm coats

to briskly walk in frosty woods,

pricking fingers to prise chestnuts

from sea-mine casings,

chuckling, cursing myself

for taking off my gloves,

I knew the need to remove them

for intricacy — despite the risk.

              After that,

and cold and walks and words and winds,

there's rising steam from teacups,

sunshine over hoary rooftops

through our window,

a little speaker plucks Chopin,

and between us, around us, out of us —

there's warmth.

Joseph Nutman finds his poetic voice in the tension between nature, psyche, and society — with a lot of heart and a little humour. He lives in Hertfordshire and does the majority of his writing outside not far from where John Clare scrounged a pint on his infamous walk home. He identifies as left-wing and working class. He is on Instagram @joseph_nutman.