Snow Day
Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows
the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.
In a while, I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch
sending a cold shower down on us both.
But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news
that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed.
the All Aboard Children’s School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with—some will be delighted to hear—
the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and—clap your hands—the Peanuts Play School.
So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.
And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.
.
.
.
“Snow Day” from Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (New York: Random House, 2001). Copyright © 2001 by Billy Collins.
The whole world is a poem today
I walked 2 miles in snow paradise
Hoping I would remember each amazing
Beautiful
Breathtaking
Moment
Even the port-a-potty
Looked romantic
Covered in it’s white cap
With it’s blue door welcoming
the desperate stranger
I found a discarded pair of snow pants
Hoping the loser
Was some place warm by now
It was too wet to use my phone
So it stayed in my pocket
Until…
I made the most amazing snow angel EVER
And couldn’t resist trying to get a quick shot
I was mostly alone in my magical land except for the occasional snow plow doing it’s duty
and one lone woman raking piles off her car
Hoping to get somewhere safely
I tramped through piles of unmarked snow,
Dirty black muddy snow
And Slushy melting snow
splashing on my boots
I followed some footprints
which were so far apart
I had to take two large steps to reach each one
I wondered if it was a yeti getting his snow on?
I felt like I was an explorer off on a great adventure
Like Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mt Everest
Ha! Visions of grandeur.
I battled the elements
Legs feeling new muscles
not used in a coons age
My gloves got wetter and wetter
From the snow,
and oops,
I forgot tissues again
It was like walking in a just shaken
snow globe world
(Without the dizzy side effects)
I cleared a spot of heavy drift
and sat briefly on a bench until the wet
freezing thru my pants
forced me get up and dance
The water and sky were gray
Meeting about 50 feet from the non-existent shoreline
no beach today in highest tide
Seagulls and ducks floated on the water
Watching the beauty
having conversations about it
I think they were excited to see me
by the amount of chatter between them
On my second mile I stopped back by my brilliant snow angel
Already filling in
I fought my way back up and down
past the river
Where I stopped for another
eye-feast of beauty
making my way carefully
so not to slip
Thinking of another
fun-friend-shared snow day
when I did.
It never gets old
This walk
This view
This gorgeous world
I hear my breathing
In steady rhythm with my steps
My core is as well heated
As my nose is cold and drippy
I make one last snow angel
outside the kitchen window
and then strip in the mud room.
Soaked to my chilled-reddened skin
I laugh as I run up the stairs
for warm dry clothes
Full of joy
and exhausted
I settle in to write it,
then on to a nice book
and a warm cup of potato soup
Buddy the dog
had an adventure in the snow
this morning as well
and is now sleeping off his excitement.
I watch the snow dance
outside the window
as I wash morning dishes
teasing me to come back out and play
the snow angel winks at me
I realize we know each others secrets
It knows my delight in it
I know it’s truth and beauty
We are more than friends
I have just been intimate with this storm
We are lovers
Yes, I have made love to the world
For the last hour and a half
and I am completely satisfied
❄️
Amy Lloyd
we are as much the spring
as all of winter’s cold
discovery’s light is too bright
to not share in the january air
our inner fire burns alongside
the chill of wind and snow
impossible to know how
this simple thought
can eradicate
the fear
of our fate
angels are always near
in times of crisis
as well as in peaceful times
if you knew they would not
give up on you- would you
then trust them to deliver
all the grace, wonder, freedom
and bliss?
to be kissed by an angel
is something not to be missed!
💋
words ~kate lamberg (c) ’18
life: acoustic & amplified 