Friday, January 30, 2015

Reflecting on Snowstorm 2015

With the arrival of the snowstorm of 2015, Long Island saw record amounts of snow this January. Schools were closed for one-two days this week leading to children's gleeful noises heard throughout the neighborhood. Twice this week, I observed my little neighbors creating their own tiny hill of snow to sled down. Each time I watched them playing in the snow despite the cold weather, I thought children appear to be resilient to weather changes. Their imaginative spirit reminded me of the snow forts that my sister and I created when were small.

This January, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes created another challenge, a "deeper wisdom" poem modeled on Joy Sidman's What Do the Trees Know? from WINTER BEES. Thinking about the shovel that was used many times this week by my son and the two little girls' imaginative snow fun, I created this short poem. I must admit that creating a "deeper wisdom" poem is not an easy one to craft. Here is my humble attempt.

What do winter shovels know?
      To slice the new-fallen, glistening snow- 
      Creating mounds away to go-
      Protecting humans from what nature bestows.

What do winter shovels know?
      That children enjoy making tracks-
      Undoing parents' diligent acts-
      Creating wonders of icy packs.  
(c) 2015 Carol Varsalona                                                               

Continuing my conversation with the snow that started with Chronicling "Historic" Storm 2015, I write:

Your expected arrival
brought frigidity and 
a spotted terrain.
While adults struggled
children's dreams were
realized.

As you can see, the snowstorm provided me with many ideas to write about while building a positive stance on the winter season. A poem about the slushy side of snow made its appearance last Saturday for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.


Now stroll over to These Four Corners where Paul Hankins is hosting Poetry Friday. Enjoy the various offerings of the week.


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