Lots of good-natured sunshine everywhere
making the snow glitter—quite
lifelike, I thought, nice
to see that again; my hands
were almost warm. Some
principle is at work, I thought:
commendable, taking an interest
in human life, but to be safe
I threw some snow over my shoulder,
since I had no salt. And sure enough
the clouds came back, and sure enough
the sky grew dark and menacing,
all as before, except
the losses were piling up—
And yet, moments ago
the sun was shining. How joyful my head was,
basking in it, getting to feel it first
while the limbs waited. Like a deserted hive.
Joyful—now there’s a word
we haven’t used in a while.