over time, our worlds become snowy.
the hazy vapour of summer grass
spring’s breeze faintly tickling your shoulders
autumn’s crispness, slightly muted
is all that remains of
the breaths we took then.

the first snow.
your heart beating as
fast
as the crystals dancing, twirling, in the sky.
elated, you melt into the blankets and allow yourself to be hypnotized by the snow’s hypnosis.
its descent to earth from the heavens,
toy nutcrackers marching in tandem.

you stand on your tippy toes, your eyes barely grazing the bottom of the window.
mesmerized
by the way the streetlamp casts its sepia spotlight over those multitudes of white comets.
as though some of the stars had leapt out of their seats, for vacation

only to end up departing as fast as they stormed down,
evaporation’s non-stop return to SKY.

with them, these tiny dancers each take a piece of you
a souvenir,
a ticket price for watching their ballet:
times gone forever, and feelings you’ll never know again.
one by one, like the way mom handed you a pair of tweezers,
and asked you to pluck out her snowy hairs.
white swans on a stage of black sesame.

over time, your world is frosted
memories dusted with time’s salt and sugar.
familiar strangers trudge up your steps amidst a storm
i’m still here! they shout.
bracing against the wind, clinging to the doorknob
their voices reverberate helplessly against the walls
of this snowglobe.

the snowfall
so blindingly bright
dims slowly
blanketing all we know.