Sunday, February 22, 2015

12 ways of looking at snow



This Sunday's writing prompt was 12 ways of looking at snow.

One
an arbitrator between autumn and spring
keeping storm scores and stats on plummeting temperatures

Two
a cat burglar, sneaking in on a passing cold front
stealing color, hiding the tricycle and the dog’s dish,
disguising the starkness of trees with fluff, covering its tracks
as it leaves

Three
a bully, sweeping in on a fierce wind,
a white fury casting cold spells,
spinning and dancing like a colorless gypsy
tapping its tambourine fingers against the window panes

Four
A blanket of silence covering sky and earth,
flung out and floating down silently
in heaps and wrinkles

Five
an ice challenge, wicked, cold, and inhospitable
hard as rock, unyielding even to the distant sun

Six
a nightmare like a thief in the night
stealing the familiar, leaving an expanse of
nothingness where light was

Seven
a gossamer dream, a fairy tale, a story of
eternal cold dressed in ermine, of diamond faceted jewels
that glitter under a pale moon

Eight
a blustery uncle, all noise and fake promises
who rushes in, pulls out his watch, and says, “I must hurry,”
as he dashes off

Nine
a lingering guest, one who arrives unexpectedly, expects a
room and food, languishes on the sofa with a hand to her head,
her scarf trailing across the roads and fields and tangling
in the branches of the trees

Ten
an artist with a monochromatic palette, painting with broad strokes.

Eleven
an eraser, an impenetrable veil, a swirl of opaque white, a myriad of genies
escaped and coalesced, their arms and bodies so entwined that no light
pierces their pallid shadows

Twelve
a silence so profound one can hear only his own heartbeat counting the seconds,
his own blood swishing to the same tempo of snowflakes falling on his sleeve



and 

In Terms of Snow

Tlatim falls like flour from a sifter,
tlamo slaps at the windows like white wings

two mysteries enfolded in the word snow,

the very idea of which, penstla,
will become tomorrow’s deep drifts.
Tlun sparkles in the moonlight,

sotla makes prisms in the morning light,
while here in the lower 48,
snow merely drifts and packs,

powders the ski slopes,
blows itself into sudden squalls,
and turns to slush in the sun.


Eskimo snow terms from http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/varia/snow.html

10 comments:

Hilary said...

Leave it to you to look at snow in every which way but with a snarl on your lip. Lovely.

Kerry said...

This is wonderful, Pauline! I can't decide which is my favorite because they are all such great ways to look at snow. A gossamer dream? Or maybe a cat burglar...oh I just don't know.

Gary said...

Lovely. I am partial to two, four, and seven. I love snow. Last night the snow was Christmas snow. It thrilled me. Light and shimmery, almost like rain. My world was glittering and the best part was I didn't have to go anywhere.

Friko said...

Well, if you can make up such descriptions of snow it cannot be so bad.

I like the idea of snow being a thief coming in softly, stealing all it touches.

Keep warm and safe, and I hope it will come to an end soon.

Out on the prairie said...

A silence so profound, a very nice time for me just to listen to the flakes.

Judith said...

All interesting, all truly poetic, but the one that for me sums up how I actually FEEL about this winter's snows is --
The lingering guest!
So insensitive, so unaware, outstaying her welcome by a long shot and too languid to notice, let alone care.
Zing!

Brian Miller said...

ha. i have felt the full range of these over the last 8 days...i loved it, hated it...saw it as savior and oppressor...i have appreciated its silence and longed for it to be broken as well...

The Furry Gnome said...

They all make sense to me, but you say it so well!

Tabor said...

Great job! Applause. Your descriptions were all distinct and interesting and visual!

Pauline said...

Hilary - the only time I don't like snow is when I have to drive in it!

Kerry - this exercise was great fun :)

Gary - you should continue making a list of your own!

Friko - I'm a fan of all seasons. It's worth it to find something to love in each one.

OOTP - you describe some of my favorite moments :)

Judith - oddly enough you popped into my mind as I was writing that one...

Brian - sometimes one can take just so much...

Thank you, Furry :)

Tabor - taking a bow ;) Thank you.