First Snow in Vermont

 Come, with celebration in your heart
and salvage the joy on the day
after shoveling,
frozen and dark as the solstice
looking into the stars of the longest night's
indigo expansive yawning,
and I will produce a smile
a shark would be proud of.

Love winter;
the white and barren place
between fall and spring,
and I will find a way to remind you
of the good that comes of blizzards,
hoarfrost, flurries, and the occasional
fluffy Vermont nights awaiting
those who believe.

There is a quiet that enters
with singular contentment on that day
when the first snow comes

that muffles the earth,
and when children rejoice
in the cancellations of everthing

with the exception
of this sticky beauty
that can be rolled into
forts, cannonballs,
and a village
full of people
who will melt
at the mention
of hot chocolate
and the steamy breath
making individual crystals
disappear into the fibers
of a single red mitten..