The First Snow
Cold crisp days fall one into another;
A frigid hand reaches deep into the ground;
Bright frost grips the land which has become familiar to these eyes;
Betraying the passing of Rabbit, deer and fox.
Revealing even the snow birds feeble scratching;
In a wake of scattered crystals;
Broken by the fragile touch of beak and wing.

This day begins as others have, with eyes looking towards the sky;
With wood in arms to feed the crackling warth that awaits within;
Today the sun conceals its face, hiding behind low dark clouds;
Befitting the icy calm which lays so complete upon the land;
As if it were a sleeping spell;
Thrown from the hand of the angry wizard of the north.
Causing all wildlife to endure the second greatest challenge.

Silence governs the moment;
Surrendering only to a barn door's low creaking moan;
Emanating from rusted hinges, old, worn and loose with age;
Gripping weathered wood of powder gray;
Oak planks, far removed from how they looked;
When first taken from the near by forest more than a century ago.

Bright red feathers adorn a maple tree's naked branch;
Cardinal shakes his crimson crest;
Turning black beak towards the sky;
Following the first flake on its drifting path downward;
So light, even challenging the thin crisp air;
Its course gently ending on an outstretched branch.
Sanctifying the action, calling to the heavens to begin.

Within a moments passing, just a portion of forever;
A spotting of white dancers follow;
On a lazy path from up above.
Millions soon appear;
Until the air is filled;
The ground begins to slowly vanish;
Under a stark powdery shroud of the first snow;
Under a cold white cloak that hides the bleakness;
Rendered by this season.
Creating a fantasy pristine world;
Cursed with a terminal beauty;
Granted but a fleeting stay;
Destined to be walked upon, driven, plowed and churned;
Cast into sooty heaps;
Lining the corridors of the Postmen's arrival.
But for now the tiny ballerinas fall;
Dancing and spinning through the cold winter air.
Quelling the anticipation of their arrival;
Until next year when the first snow falls again.

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