A post lady wakes up and it's snowing

This is a bad job for someone who likes to lie in.

She hasn’t once not pressed snooze.

Most people are still ‘under the duvet deep sleep’

when she’s zipping up her big red coat

tying her shoelaces balancing a whole slice of toast in her mouth.

This is no time to cut into triangles.

On the way to the sorting office car windscreens

are being scraped lit by porch light.

This town has got its gloves on

and is not making any promises on ETAs.

People are so much happier in the sunshine, she’s noticed

but she’d hate to be a post lady somewhere it never rains or snows

That exhalation as you take off your muddy shoes and waterproofs

as soon as you’ve got back in through the front door

is as much a part of the job

as putting envelopes through letterboxes.

Both her daughters have texted her:

‘good luck surviving the snow!’ they say.

She has never had a Christmas without being given

warm socks.

Today all her conversations will be about the weather.

‘Looks like it there might be more later?’

someone who hasn’t boycotted Amazon might say

but she’ll shake her head and say no and this is tablets of stone.

Sometimes in December she’’ll be given

Christmas cards with sellotaped pound coins with ‘postlady’

written on the envelope.

she always gives her tips to the homeless charity

who wash cars by hand in their Santa hats.

it’s not much but it helps.

The whole town is waking up to see that it’s snowing

It’s started to lay

but it’s not enough to build a snowman.