Home

I've Never Known Snow

by Jasmine Sword-Mann

November was the death of us.

It would come with the mist of rain,
gray mottled skies and the chill of
winter digging into old bones. We
never wore mittens back then.

Never learned to throw a snowball,
never made a snow angel, nor
gave birth to a snowman.

We only knew of ice; the world
outside our glass house.

At night we would be ushered into the cold.
Play, she would tell us. Dinner will be ready soon.
But we both knew what that meant.

The window would close with a lengthy sigh,
the drapes as wide and deep as the night.
But you could still hear the yelling, the slaps,
the sound of a heavy fist making contact with bone.

And all the while no snowflakes fell, no icicles
chimed in the moaning November wind,
and the cat would sit at the door
meowing for his dinner.

11/18/2010

Author's Note: I always said when I grew up I'd move somewhere it snowed. I did.

Posted on 11/18/2010
Copyright © 2024 Jasmine Sword-Mann

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 11/18/10 at 08:33 PM

Just beautiful. Not much else I can say.

Posted by Paul Lastovica on 11/22/10 at 10:09 PM

I've still never 'really' seen snow - it's a mythical thing here, you know this; and maybe on rare occasions it will snow a little ... but it doesn't stick and is melted away the following day. It leaves very little room for the enchantments that come along with a picture-esque winter wonderland, leaving one to deal with some things that are too real. It is a beautiful poem, and i am sad for it.

Posted by Sigurdur Haraldsson on 11/28/10 at 07:57 AM

This is a very good piece of work. I'm glad you were able to move and see snow :-)

Return to the Previous Page
 

pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online
All works Copyright © 2024 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)