Poems about Snow

I have lived in three countries, each with their own level of variation between seasons. I have always loved snow, but my interaction with it over time, especially a few harsh winters in Boston, has shaped my relationship with it.

 

 

            Under Snowed Conifers

Snow piled up around small conifers

Covering the outspread fronds

Enclosing a dry sheltered spot

Inside that birds take refuge in

While swirling flakes abound outside

Seems to hold more than dry needles and droppings

The secrets of wildlife surround

The memories of the outdoors

            Outside Suburban Snow

The snow calls me:

Bright as day, the night,

To open fields.

In candle light,

I spurn the moon,

Despondently

In a Boston suburb:

Too far from the fire

Of an Irish cottage

To traverse the frigid air.

            Shoveling Tunnels

When snow falls thick

Enough to keep doors closed,

Should it be shoveled

More than mere tunnels

Through the two-foot drifts

For pedestrians to the trains,

Leaving cars abandoned under beauty

Slowly until the spring releases them?

Instead of this frantic

Freeing of black asphalt

By pushing white into ugly piles,

Forcing walkers onto the street

Through the dirty slush.

            Want to keep Walking

The snow leads me onwards

With its will

To keep walking,

Though I know

It is hours back and

Despite the darkness

Falling fast as quicksilver.

            Minnesota Under Snow

When the date arrives

With scarce needs

People should decide life’s destinations

Declining to be sited

In such as Minnesota

Cities fighting to keep from freezing

For farmers and trappers

Only those that see

Their necessity in the snow

Live winter

As it was designed

To be survived

            How Strange Here is the Snow

The ending of a blizzard brings no

Tranquil images of being snowed in

A welcome, if invented, excuse to do

What would be normally considered nothing,

Catching up on books, warm glass watching,

Simply stranded

In silence smiles.

Instead, the whole street swarms with activity.

There’s no time to do nothing;

Whatever hours are gained by a snow day

Are simply spent, sweating, shoveling

Inconvenience into piles.

            The Snow Outside

Standing

Watching

The whirling

Snow

Outside

            The First Snowfall of the Season

The First Snowfall of the Season

Hypnotises me

Into holiday feeling

Misplaced in mid autumn

Romanticism

Of three days ensconced inside

Looking out at soft edge

Turn sharply to

Four months trudge

            Daylight Savings Time

Don’t forget to reset your watch

Tonight, the clocks go back

One hour for “summer time” so

We have an extra hour of

Daylight in the evenings.

Since the twenties this tradition

Has saved us several billion dollars a year!

Well, today’s the day –

The one you’ve been waiting for:

The first day of summer!

The kids are on holidays and

Those of you still stuck in the office

Can at least discard that shirt and

Tie for the next three months!

That’s right! It is also “dressing down day”,

Officially known as “summer energy savings time”,

When businesses, from now till September,

Have to set a new trend in dress code:

Shirts, sandals and tee-shirts. It’s all part of

The effort to save on air conditioning electricity.

Set your video for the Simpson’s tonight:

You won’t be home to watch them live!

Yes; this evening begins the “summer siesta season”:

Those three months when the work day changes

From nine to five, up until eight,

With a three-hour break between two and five

To escape that sultry, early afternoon heat,

Now that air-conditioning has been outlawed

To lower the outlandish energy costs.

Tomorrow is the big day –

“Winter energy savings time”,

Or “Migration Day” as it’s more widely known!

Everyone knows the drill by now –

Unless energetically independent or indispensable,

All those north of the forty-fifth parallel

In the central continental states

Will move south of that line for winter time,

So as we can all avoid the huge heating

Waste those places used to face.