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"Snow"

Despite our personal experience of snow,
   its solitary heaviness
   is the story of humanity's capacity
   for sorrow;
   loss of some kind, that is as inevitable
   as it is
   bitter.

Nature has developed a vast receptivity
   for the stories that have eternally besieged Her ears –
      the loss of a lover, a beloved pet,
      a childhood home, a career,
      an elderly parent,
      a set of keys,
      a whole community.

Hundreds of variations on this theme recycle,
   year after year,
   each valiantly claiming their significance.
And as Nature weeps
   to cleanse our world of sorrow,
   She tries Her very best to honor
   the uniqueness of each story
   by letting a snowflake fall
   for each teller of suffering.

So what appears to be a single,
   uniform layer of whiteness, is in fact,
   the melding of millions of stories
   from the most vivid to the most shadowed –
   released onto the surface and soil of our fragile planet.

In Her infinite wisdom,
   Nature shows humanity the unifying force
   of love through the one color of loss...


December 2013

     

 

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©2013, Michael Smolens