A free verse poem written from a winter storm's perspective. |
Suddenly falling temperatures announce my arrival. Gusty winds under gray sky precede me. Freezing rain indicates my intent. I breathe out frigid air, turning the rain to sleet that is unrelenting. I coat all surfaces with ice, ice that makes the bare branches of leafless trees glisten, that makes branches of evergreens sag and droop with added weight, that turns roadways and sidewalks into slippery hazards. Still I sleet. Soon the sound of my chattering sleet is accompanied by the creaking and cracking of snapping tree branches. The roads and yards become littered with downed trees and power lines. Feel my power. Know I have seized control. I create an icy wonderland, but you complain about loss of electricity and inability to drive your vehicles. The streets are mostly deserted now, as those drivers foolish enough to challenge me slide and careen out of control. Wrecks adorn my icy roadways. I’ve delivered enough ice, so now I switch to blowing snow. My Arctic breath has temperatures well below freezing. As the snow falls, animals huddle together in fields and woods, while people huddle in their warm houses. I snow and I snow until the world wears a thick blanket of pure whiteness. Now I rest and enjoy my handiwork. I have produced a panorama of beauty. Everywhere there is quiet, punctuated by the occasional cannon report of a tree limb crashing to the ground. Birds sit with feathers puffed to their maximum for insulation. Wispy smoke trails from chimneys. Bundled-up children brave my frost-biting cold to play with frosty breaths and red cheeks in my white winter playground. Snowmen and snowball fights break out. The young and the young-at-heart see the beauty I sculpt with ice and snow. The old see only the inconvenience of my passing gift and complain of destruction. Regrettably, my winter creations last only a few days, but rest assured, I plan more visits before spring banishes me. Please check out my ten books: http://www.amazon.com/Jr.-Harry-E.-Gilleland/e/B004SVLY02/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 |