Sunday, February 07, 2016


This has been a fairly snow-less winter so far. One Sunday morning writing prompt, however, dealt with the white stuff. Here's the result.

Write 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 white 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




10 comments:

Out on the prairie said...

Very nice, i have described it as a blanket covering the land at rest. It is a cleansing season, soon to be gone. I saw my first Purple Finch yesterday,who is a visitor before flocking north.

Stella Jones said...

Great descriptions Pauline. I like number nine best.

Peter Bryenton said...

A productive collaboration.

Tabor said...

Quite a challenge and you met it well. Very thoughtful and I love the little humorous photo at the end

Pauline said...

OTTP - we have flocks of robins appearing a month ahead of time here. Snow is actually predicted for today and again Wednesday. It is very late in coming.

Stella - thanks. It was an interesting assignment.

B - indeed!

Tabor - that was all the snow I could muster. A four inch snowman - indicative of climate change.

Gary said...

That's pretty impressive. My sensibilities draw me towards Number Seven but Number Nine is oh, so familiar.

Pauline said...

Gary - I've experience them all. I love #7 but know #9 all too well!

Wisewebwoman said...

I can't share the whimsy as we are currently in the midst of a blizzard - where sharp needles blister the windows and the trees lean over backwards in terror.
Gad I hate this kind of winter
XO
Www

Anne said...

A pleasure to read, especially since it looks as though we will have no snow here this winter.

Pauline said...

WWW- I've been in the midst of that kind of winter but not this year. Be warm, be safe.

Anne - thanks. We have some snow now and bitter cold but rain and temps in the 40s next week will way it all away.