Jan 24, 2015 Original Poetry

Snow Fall
©January 24th, 2015
By Vijaya Sundaram

White drifts down,
A reminder that
The world will be renewed.
And that hills and trees,
Stripped of color
Are still beautiful.
And this white and brown
And black world, so gentle
So muted, so tender
Obscures the memory of
A harsher place waiting outside
The edges of window frames.

Suit up and take
My Eager Doggess for a walk.
And now, these are my reality:
A snuffly nose,
A waggling tail,
A smiling dog —
Forget all else, just
Skid and slip
On sidewalks down steep
Slopes in my up-and-down
Neighborhood, shaped
By an erratic earth epochs ago.

And think of fifty-year old bones
Breaking and cracking on
Empty streets, dragged
Down by dog in haste,
Yell to her urgently: Slow down!
She does, befuddled.

Turn resolutely back,
Find a safer, straighter,
Quicker way home.
No broken bones,
No bruises or bumps.
Strangely, after all is over,
Reflect, drinking hot tea, that
Moments of sheer terror
Carry their own pleasure.

But don’t risk all for it.
Do not fall.
Falling is for the young.
There is a slight pang,
The memory of a deep gong within me.
Shrug, move on,
Falling is for the young, I say firmly.

Look out my windows,
Glad to be home.
Let my gaze caress the sky,
And the earth hums
With quiet satisfaction,
While she laps at her water
Noisy, unselfconscious.

It’s good to be still vertical
In a snow-veiled world.

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Tags: #Original Poetry by Vijaya Sundaram, #Winter, 2015, Chronicles of Holly, Snowfall, Walk with dog