Athena Kildegaard: “Snow Day”
SNOW DAY
The radio prognosticators say
rain turning later to ice, high wind that may
become tornado, floods. We wonder whether watch
means hurry to buy milk and eggs and Scotch
or carry on, relax, enjoy the day. But stay
they quietly advise. Play a game that takes
all afternoon, sort old photographs, make
bread, write long letters—all sensible choices
given today’s conditions. My weather-heart rejoices
in how a spider crosses Ctrl and Alt, in how the cat enjoys
stretch and preen, how snow makes curlicues
against the screen and wind from the north looses
its high-pitched song, and all I need or want is you.
Somewhere else today there’s hail, tornado, ice.
Fire somewhere else. But here, here is paradise.
Athena Kildegaard is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Prairie Midden (Tinderbox Editions). Her poems have appeared widely in many journals, including Prairie Schooner, Colorado Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The American Journal of Poetry, North American Review, and elsewhere.