It’s here. Everything’s all here.
The snow – white, taciturn and generous.
Confetti of exotic purity
but not reflecting anything.
I have grown lighter – I shed the weight of my shadow
in this snow, like a boa sloughing into a new awakening.
The snow is placid.
I have grown lighter – forgotten the weight of your body
on my body.
The world is heavy with snow.
I have grown lighter – spit into the snow and it’s gone:
the sweet burden of your okro soup on my palate.
It’s here. Everything’s all here.
The world is calm with snow.
The world is still with snow.
The world is peaceful with snow.
Life sleeps under a thick white blanket.
But I am restless. Everything’s here but you.
I envy the pine trees bearing the burden of snow.
I want to bear the burden of your body
to let the warmth of your exuberance
turn out this unwanted winter.
First published in the 2005 Newsletter of the Millay Colony
for the Arts (www.millaycolony.org/artists.html),
Austerlitz, New York. This poem is part of my forthcoming
collection: Four Serenades: Water, Earth, Wind and Fire.
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