Global Warming?

Winter in the Midwest has been uncharacteristically warm. Last week’s 50-60 degree temperatures melted away any vestige of dirty snow loitering on our sidewalks and streets. Personally, I’m looking forward to the next big snowfall, with hopes that our ordinary suburban scenery will change into something magical.



First Snow

I wake up in a snow globe scene--
A shimmering, glimmering world, pristine,

Where crystalline silence fills the air
With blinding brightness everywhere.

A crisp, clean coat of powdery white
Has changed the landscape overnight.

The snow has washed the dirt away
From dingy streets and sidewalks gray,

And icy glitter frosts the trees
With tinsel, twinkling in the bitter breeze.

Here, time floats very slowly by,
Like snowflakes suspended in a glycerin sky.

If only life’s dreary, cheerless days
Could be transformed in this simple way:

Turn the landscape upside down,
Give a gentle shake, then gaze around--

Perhaps the drabness will be replaced
By a wonderland of wintry grace.

© 2004 Diane Burdin

Both this poem and the photo, taken by my brother

Carl, were inspired by Thanksgiving Day, 2003.