Reflections in the Snow by Michelle Oram

 
 
 

 Reflections in the Snow by Michelle Oram, photo Jerry Reganess
  
 Sometimes I walk down
 a path
 where all I can hear
 is the frozen crunch
 of dead leaves 
                                                  
 I get lost in a dense fog 
 of if only 
 disoriented with 
 my mind’s torment 
 I sit by a trickling brook
  
 my life swirls  
 against outcast stones
 icicles of pain
 rippled in happiness
 melt downstream
  
 I look to the sky
 laced silken misty 
 spun webs of snow 
 begin to spiral
 in every direction
  
 entranced I surrender
 to the downy ground
 tears melt 
 the cold storm
 off my cheeks
  
 frosted with innocent
 childhood 
 memories
 I stretch 
 my angelic arms
  
 as I sing and fly
 on doves’ wings
 like I have done 
 in my youthful dreams
 cleansed and refreshed
  
              ****  
 Snow blankets
 many troubled
 yesterdays
 milking collections
 of magical domino 
 scenes from my youth
  
 tongues stuck 
 to glistening icicles
 building snowmen
 sledding down hills
 picnics in ice castle 
 fortresses, I the queen
  
 carving safe havens 
 in blocks of snow
 sheltered from 
 my parent’s brawls
 frozen forever
  in my heart
  
           ****
 What hides beneath
 the fluffy blankets 
 of maternal snow
 carpeting my yard
 once gardens 
  
 flavored with lavender
 today a frozen tundra
 where birds tuck away
 nuts and berries
 from yesterday’s harvest
  
 now the seeds of spring
 are protected by nature’s purge
 embracing tomorrow
 with a mother’s lullaby 
 of undying love