Snowflake
Timing’s everything. The vapor rises
high in the sky, tossing to and fro,
then freezes, suddenly, and crystallizes
into a perfect flake of miraculous snow.
for countless miles, drifting east above
the world, whirling about in a swirling free-
for-all, appearing aimless, just like love,
but sensing, seeking out, its destiny.
Falling to where the two young skaters stand,
hand in hand, then flips and dips and whips
itself about to ever-so-gently land,
a miracle, across her unkissed lips:
as he blocks the wind raging from the south,
leaning forward to kiss her lovely mouth.
~ William Baer, from Borges and Other Sonnets
I love the poem above as it has brought such beauty to something so small we hardly think about. I imagine the writer when he wrote it–it must have been one of those savouring-the-simple-pleasures-in-life kind of moments for him. The imagery the poem conjures is lovely and one day I would hope to see snow fall (so far I’ve always visited temperate countries in summer) with that special someone…