Saturday, October 10, 2009
First Snow (poem)
First Snow
Unannounced, unexpected,
coming in softly
like an intruder,
or more like
a secret lover
stealing through
the house at night,
nonetheless
there it was,
as if it had only
been away for awhile
for a visit
to a distant aunt
or another planet.
And the trees,
larch and pine,
majestic,
humble,
lifting their arms
like Moses in prayer,
accepting
this gift
from elsewhere,
welcoming this old friend,
this other part
of who they were,
all of us
one with the whole,
everyone carried along
in this private magic.
Dorothy Walters
October 10, 2009
It began last night. Gentle flakes falling over roofs and mountains, everything covered in white silken damask. For me, it was a most special event, since I have not seen snow in many years, for it never snows in San Francisco. The weather now is brisk, but certainly not unbearable. From my window I can survey the entire majestic scene, all the way to the mountains in the distance.
The snow reminds us that we too are part of the cycles of the seasons, that we also are an integral part of nature itself, something we may lose sight of amidst the city dwellings and their sidewalks and concrete streets, especially in a location where there is essentially a single weather pattern of fog and/or rain, with occasional intervals of sun.
