June, 2000

Visions of falling snow
© By Daniel Fisher

 

As the falling snow,
Late in the evening, is heavier than feathers,
It crystallizes and melts at the same time,
In an equilibrium, fallen on the sidewalk;
More evasive than the hidden twilight,
Its falling whiteness.

In a sanctum of clouds,
A night of white-and-rose reflected light
Above:    the subtle, tremulous substance
Of life, vaporized and freezing,
Crystalline deposition, like an incarnation
Subtle and angelic.

Descending,
In uneven movements, like minuscule wings
Fluttering in inconsistent breaths
Of wind... They may plunge suddenly
Or remain suspended, like tiny parachutes
In the cold air.

The snowflakes
Turn and flutter like a candles flame,
In light that is as faint, yet spreads forever,
In a world that seems as still as glass
And as fragile, yet like it is all falling,
Flowing downward.

In slow harmony,
Like music in a silent world, save for an occasional
Swish of wind, or rustle of branches.
Is it real? They seem more fleeting
Than the imagined stars, whose movements are more massive,
Yet seem more fixed.

All, in a universe,
In a dream as fragile and relucent
As China -- all, perceived as fleeting thoughts
And moments: spiraling cadences,
Like a continuous lullaby in unison
With only wind.

Endlessly flowing,
Newly transformed from the sky, an invocation,
A prayer of snowflakes,
A lake of whitened lily petals,
Fleeting like memories, ripples in a moment,
Almost forever.

   

Previously published in the North Carolina Poetry Society's 
"Award Winning Poems, 2000" 
Used with permission of the Poet.

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