Snow

It's winter here. I know most other places are still boasting fall, with its with changing leaves and cooler winds. And maybe it's even summer somewhere (my friends in Australia...). But here, it's winter. The first big snow arrived last week. We danced in snowflakes the size of silver dollars, feeling like we were inside a snow globe. The mountains look their happiest. And everywhere the contrast of white on dark is almost blinding. Magically so. Everyone here says I'll hate it soon enough. I assure them that I have lived in miserably snowy places that are nothing like Heber City, to no avail."Just wait until February," they say with that look. Or, "Well it's your first winter—give it a few years." And inside of me I hope my little heart out that I will love it then just as much as I do now.

SNOW
by Hope Harder

I am Snow,
The unknowing say that I am cold.
Only those who love me
know how warm I am.
I bring a blanket of virginity
to cover my beloved Earth.
Silently I come,
bringing oblivion and rest.
In swirls I circle to Earth,
and lay carpets of wintry flowers
over the barren ground.
I bring silence
and a white aroma of peace.
Gently and quietly I festoon the land.
My mother was Rain,
and my father was Ice.
I am Snow—
I come to share
my frozen lace with you.