Death of the Snow Heaps

DEATH OF THE SNOW HEAPS Like full-bodied youngsters they ruled the street For a while - rude, unchallenged strength sweet; Their short life - immaculate seeming. Hard heartless shells - cold, gleaming. Now skin shrinks to a nothing-life-span, Revealing cigarette ends, rusty beer can, Chewing gum, mud-and-dirt: a midden - Lifetime-accumulated and temporarily hidden. Now, shrunk and cracked like old men’s skin As they lie and die dissolute and thin, They will soon be forgotten by all talk As they bleed water across the sidewalk. Their pile of dirty secrets will soon be Exposed in the sun for all to see. The spotless snow was a perfect concealer. Death the leveller is also death the revealer. …………………………………… NOTE City snow heaps in the streets, lasting from November to March, become filled with hidden trash, which is only exposed when the heaps melt in spring.