Oh, quiet herald of upper air,
you fall like a thought
the earth’s been waiting centuries to receive.
The sky loosens its pale breath,
and the world listens.
Fields bow.
Rivers still their restless speech.
Snow, pale messenger—
you are not death,
but the pause before awakening,
the white sleep of seeds
dreaming beneath the dark.
You veil the scars of stone and road,
not to deceive,
but to remind us
that nothing is finished
while change still knows how to fall.
I watch you touch the branches
with a lover’s patience,
each flake
dissolving into surrender,
each moment vanishing
at the instant of its perfection.
Oh, gentle power,
you teach the heart what the storm cannot:
that even the coldest descent
may be an act of mercy,
and that silence, too, can be a form of fire.
Photo credits: Pinterest
Kim hosts at dVerse where she invites us to write about snow. Come join us! ❄️
Posted for Poetics: New Year Snow @dVerse Poets Pub
40 Responses
I love this… that silence you have with snow is truly wonderful
Thank you so much, Bjorn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
This is marvelous! Your words make snow into a hero.
Thank you so much, Candy 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I love this, all of it, title and poem, Sanaa! And the phrases ‘quiet herald of upper air’ and ‘you fall like a thought’ are sublime. And these lines:
‘the white sleep of seeds
dreaming beneath the dark’.
No mention of cold or chill and yet your poem evokes it so well.
Thank you so much, my dear Kim 😍 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
(and thank you for the lovely prompt) 🥂
“the white sleep of seeds
dreaming beneath the dark.”
BRAVO!!!
🎇much love
Thank you so much, Gillena 😀 so glad the poem spoke to you 💄❤️
Sanaa, I like how you took the ideas in the original poem and spun them into your own beautiful insights.
Thank you so much, Lisa 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Brava, Sanaa! The verse of the snowflakes’ surrender: “each moment vanishing
at the instant of its perfection” is …perfection 🙂
Thank you so much, Lynn 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
Like it all, Sanaa, but your penultimate stanza blew me away. Thanks.
Thank you so much, Ron 😀 so good to see you 💄❤️
Dear Sanaa, of course you are going to ponder Kim’s challenge … then present us with a poem about snow that tiptoes around and into sensuality. I inhaled it. Sigh.
Thank you so much, Helen 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
A wonderful poem, Sanaa. The blessing of snow in silence and fire!
Thank you so much, Dwight 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
5th stanza is my favorite
❤️❤️❤️
So many beautiful images – and a real tenderness and sense of appreciation in your words dedicated to snow – Jae
Thank you so much, Jae 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I LOVED the ending. Great piece, Sanaa!
Thank you so much, Jay 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
Beautifully expressed – love it!
❤️❤️❤️
Brilliant Sanaa! I love your perspective here my friend. 🙂
Thank you so much, Rob 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
Soft and powerful silence and hopeful metaphors. Nicely written 👏
Thank you so much, Shaun 😀 so glad the poem resonated with you 💄❤️
A blessing and prayer — weighty worship which of falling snow.
Thank you so much, Brendan 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
This is beautiful! Like a blessing.
❤️❤️❤️
“Snow, pale messenger—” I love this tender address to the snow, the poem being as much a lover’s touch as the snow.
Thank you so much, Dora 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️
“You veil the scars of stone and road,
not to deceive,
but to remind us
that nothing is finished
while change still knows how to fall.”
A breath-taking poem, Sanaa. I love the idea of snow as silence.
(wonderful photos)
Thank you so much, Sara 😀 so glad you liked it 💄❤️
I so love the contrast between storm and gentle, as a metaphor so perfect, and the poem too is gentle yet powerful.
Thank you so much, Paul 😀 so glad you enjoyed it 💄❤️