Anatomy of a Snow Day

Smoke trickles from red brick stack Children make ready for slumber Through the frosty panes of boudoir glass Eyes amaze at the wonder before Amber radiant glow of street lamp Broken by fall of crystalline confetti Obscuring rays and speckling ground white beneath Sleep won’t come soon As preparations cease and excitement mounts Six unblinking eyes, mesmerized Three smiles grow wider in anticipation Darkness’ shroud powerless to suppress The ever thickening blanket of pureness The sky, once grey with cloud gives way To hues of pink in silent tribute to a seasons’ finest hour Adolescent lids grow heavy In tune with the boughs of fir they watch Sleep comes unwillingly; but with it Dreams of silver blades and alabaster characters Orange of nose, black of eyes with imperfect grins Trident tracks dot the snowy surface Evidence of the morning’s vain forage The songbirds’ voice echoes in accompaniment To the celestial dance bringing dawn to the world. “Academia on ice for the day” A radio resonates the children’s wishes Followed closely by a fervent scramble for wellies, scarves and long since lost mittens Runners scrape trenches down every hill and berm The screams of white warfare, giggles from fresh angels Jubilant reminders of unplanned vacation. The Aroma of hot chocolate gently simmering on stoves Is too much temptation for little cold nose Jackets and gloves are shed in wet heaps In favor of mugs for their hands, and a fire for their seats