WINTER AWARENESS SEMINAR

I



ONE WINTER ADDITION



teachers to small children



the world over



pastors to parish



they all will tell the pretty truth



(aside the pretty lies, “pretty lies”)



that crystalline snowflakes



are unique. unique.



and maybe later in both



secular schoolrooms



and sunday school classes



(and in all their varieties the world over)



small children might make snowflakes for themselves



they’ll fold lacy paper exactly in half



with a good crease



and taking their round-ended scissors



they’ll cut their very own unique cuts



so that when everyone unfolds their lacy paper



and lifts it above their heads



everyone can laugh at their uniquenesses



.



but one thing that ministers & mentors



rabbis & nuns will fail to add



is that those one-of-a-kind snowflakes



are all



alone



in their descent



on icy black currents



all their night fall



.



II



STILL, NOT STILL



It’s the coldest morning this year



And the Farmer’s Almanac says this year



There’s gonna be a winter of ’em



Me, I won’t mind



I like how loud the still is



.



forty years ago a brother from Chicago



called the cold wind



“the hawk”



I wonder if it’s still true



I wonder if “that muthafuckin Hawk”



is still cursed & bundled against



in the only city cited for its big blow.



.







III



When island settings lose their place



in imaginings,



When our mornings sun there



warming skin, bare, but for spot-traces of surf,



Or all shade floral sanctuaries,



perfect for setting your eyes on



god’s perfect line, a horizon,



When all won’t free you,



Won’t call you from all this freezing



Point of view,



This illusionary season,



What ttthen?