Wednesday, November 26, 2008

First Snow


No, no ... I'm not reporting that we've had serious snow here in Ohio ... we've had some sudden swings in weather recently ... a smattering of flakes, but nothing drastic (I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though).


Actually, I guess I am reporting, after a fashion ... reporting on some childhood memories which come rolling back to me on a fairly regular basis.


Besides, "First Snow" also happens to be one of my favorite poems ... along with "Hollyhocks," "Chance of Rain" ... and a few others.


But I digress.


I don't know exactly which hillside Grandma and I were on. I don't know where we were going. Memories become blurred as to certain details.


I do remember the moment, though, when a sudden swirl of huge, fluffy snowflakes descended on us. They were, indeed, like flying feathers.


I hadn't seen anything like them in my whole young life.


The poem:


FIRST SNOW


I watch them
sliding slowly
on my windowpane,
harbingers
come to warn me
of impending winter,
stirring again
that memory
of plucked feathers,
as she called them,
swiftly enveloping
Grandma and me
on a hillside path.


I can still taste
that delicious
melting cold,
still hear her
laughing with me,
that great
explosion of joy.
© 2005


("First Snow" received a first-place award in a Poets' Study Club contest, was later published in The Christian Science Monitor, and is now part of Wood Smoke, my third collection, issued recently by Finishing Line Press)

Today's word: harbingers

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two for one...
I don't know where I was for yesterday's wonderful poem, but I know where I am today.
I'm looking at precious memories for you--and for the rest of us.
For me, they are memories that I'll never be able to pass on to grandkids. We live in Miami. We have good things that build memories,of course.
Your poems are always a treat, but these two poems have been delishious. Oh, I guess we all know the words, although, harbinger, nice as it is, it doesn't just roll of the tongue. It's not only the memories, but the choice of words and the way they are put together that is so wonderful. It's the choice of memories, the extra words that you carefully put in place in your poetry, that make it so delightful to read...and read more than once.

Anonymous said...

Oh, thank you, Helen, for that electronic pat on the back! I'm delighted that you liked both poems. With your encouragement, I guess I'll keep stringing words together ... to see what they have to say to me ... and, perhaps, to others. Best wishes.