Snowfall (12/16/07)

Inspired by the snow on the front lawn of Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College.

Billow and coat the earth.
Leave ancestors,
the water-wind, and sky;
a bitter atmosphere.

Fall amid your like-minded
brothers and sisters;
beautiful rejection
of your forebears.

Hush and slow

the world of cars,

lights, blaring sounds;
Dampen smells

of trash and humans.

Lie peacefully in lumpy

hills of tender ice
angels fall into, leaving behind
temporary fossils; outlines
of wings, robes and halos
in the canvas of your bodies.

Dim lights, mute wind;
freeze the land to cease
blind, dogged
stumbling of
people in your power.

Whisper in tiny,

melancholy-hopeful voices
"Joy to the world;

the LORD is come."

Gasp a fleeting hallelujah

as earth and heaven mingle

for a few precious hours

before the vision fades
and reality sets back in
with the sound of flowing
water and the sight
of muddy sludge.

Author's Note

I don't care what anybody says. I really like the fact that this poem ends on the word "sludge."

Reviews

[Blue Bard]

As I read this, I was struck by the variety of image and emotion you evoke in such a small space. The first verse pops, it flows from innocence to jaded within this short span. A good effort here.