A Drive Through The Bleak Snowy Countryside Poem by Deanna Samuels

A drive through the bleak countryside gave a feel of icy cold
Fields swathed in swirls of recent snow fall
The narrow roads becoming almost a lane banked up on either side
Yet, on second glance, the scape was raw and beautiful
Untouched by human footstep or grazing farmyard cattle
The miles of country lay before, unchanging as each flake fell
Fields separated by low fences were almost lost under the windswept drifts
Tree banks for endless miles holding on to that white fluffy mass
Their boughs weighted down from such extra load
Passing by a deep ravine, caught sun rays shining through the spindly pines
Revealing a clearing, giving an eerily look of misty gold haze
Beyond the fields and wooded land the vista gave way
Opening up to one of the Great Lakes of Canada, Lake Ontario
On this cloudless day, the waters of the lake sparkled deep blue
Calm, with little swell as though it too enjoying the windless weather
There also, at water's edge, the mighty Nuclear Energy Plant of Pickering
Serving the wider communities throughout the area with their daily energy
While a little further inland a redundant, never used coal fired plant
Obsolete, as overtaken by legislation on ban of such production
Deeper into the country a few farm houses to be seen
Almost from such distance looking half buried beneath the recent snowfall
Given away only by the smoky streaks emitting from chimney stacks
Passed by small hamlets, they too almost hidden behind banks of snow
Care taken at unprotected rail crossings, listening out for sound of moving train
Reaching goal of Port Hope, a true small town maintaining tradition at its best
A flourishing small theatre with many live shows for townsfolk to enjoy
Individual stores and shops keeping local businesses alive
All the while, very few people about on this cold and crispy day
Turning now in westerly direction, surveyed the on-coming vista
Once more, the snow covered wide open spaces and wooded scene
Lake Ontario continuing to shimmer to the left
Motoring at moderate speed, merged onto busy highway and homeward went

Written at Richmond Hill, Ontario - 8th January 2017.