I decided today would be perfect
I woke up rested,
A feeling I’m never sure is actually real
Or if I am still dreaming
I brushed my teeth and showered
If I ran into you,
You’re welcome…..
And it was all going according to plan

Then I opened the door
I stepped outside
Felt the cold winter air
And then I saw it.
And the world came crashing down

I saw the shallow impression
In the freshly fallen snow of an angel
Cold as a chalk outline
In the back alley of some forgotten bar downtown.

And today it reminds me of how far we’ve fallen
How we fell from the heaven of youth
To the hard cold ground and laid there
Waiting to dissolve and reemerge
In the blistering cold of a Winter morning
Hopeless and yearning
Praying someone would pick us up
Before the sun came out and melted us into memory
But instead of reaching, those passers by walked on
And clung to their guns like good christian soldiers
Marching off to battle but never reaching out to take us with them
Never looking down and realizing that the war they had been praying for
Was being fought on the ground at their feet as they walked by
Ignorant of those reaching for something and yearning for hope
Those angels are trying so damn hard to get back to the dreams that were promised to them
But the sunlight is coming and they’re fading away.

And as I’m reminded of how far we’ve fallen
New angels appear
And with them
More chances for us to reach out
To let go of what we thought we knew
To break ranks and to love….

And I see a woman,
reaching into the snow and pick up a child
Who’s snow angel frame is fresh as frostbite on my bare skin
She dusts him off and carries him to the warmth of home.

Though today wasn’t perfect
I saw an angel...
I saw an angel

12/30/2017

Posted on 12/31/2017
Copyright © 2024 Curtis Sethaler