Thursday, April 11, 2019

April 11: New Snow, Tired of Shoveling, "Spring Snow Storm"

I am looking out my front door right now, seeing my car disappear under a layer of new snow.  A spring snow storm.  Every Yooper expects and dreads this last big blast of winter.  

I'm heading out soon to attend a poetry open mic with a friend.  We might be crazy.  Well, we are crazy, for poetry's sake.

Saint Marty is tired of shoveling.

Spring Snow Storm

by:  Martin Achatz

The weather guy, in his ugly tie,
Predicts six to twelve inches tonight,
A spring storm out of Alaska, Canada,
Winds as strong as cattle trains.
Tomorrow, I will wake to this creature,
This force of different fronts from ocean,
Mountain, glacier, tundra.  I’ve heard
It said a butterfly’s wings, trembled
On African savannah, causes hurricanes
On the Gulf Coast, another flood
In the Big Easy, wipes out Mardi Gras
For good, an oil slick of jazz
On magnolia, pelican wing, bayou.
I wonder if the collective gasp in Japan
After earthquake and tsunami caused
This early spring snow, set into motion
Winds across the Pacific, bore
That shock and grief through salt,
Through supermoon, mixed it with cries
Of caribou and polar bear, brought
It to me, to my home, snow falling
On roof and car, snow on street, lawn,
Gas station, church steeple, snow
Everywhere, heavy as a thousand souls.
Tonight, when I press my lips to my son’s
Fingers, somewhere on this planet
Rain will start to fall in a desert place,

Filling the land with green life.


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