Not shovels,
not the dread skid
to the ditch,
not even salt, no,
just childish rejoice
for what’s free,
falling and frozen,
yet floats like luck’s feathers—
long flight from bad
to better, hunger
to dinner, cot to bed
and comforter.
It’s contagious
this spontaneous
jump jump run and twirl,
this smiles up to taste
and palms out to catch
the sky falling:
fluffed tatters of icy white
that turn, on touching
skin, to a blessing of water.
not the dread skid
to the ditch,
not even salt, no,
just childish rejoice
for what’s free,
falling and frozen,
yet floats like luck’s feathers—
long flight from bad
to better, hunger
to dinner, cot to bed
and comforter.
It’s contagious
this spontaneous
jump jump run and twirl,
this smiles up to taste
and palms out to catch
the sky falling:
fluffed tatters of icy white
that turn, on touching
skin, to a blessing of water.
READ MORE
Video captures refugee children enjoying snow for the first time [CBC]
Canada’s resettlement of refugees: potential lessons for Europe [Euronews]
Matthew Murrey is a poet whose writings have appeared in various journals such as Tar River Poetry, Poetry East, and Rattle. He received an NEA Fellowship in Poetry a number of years ago, and his first book, Bulletproof, will be published by Jacar Press. He is a high school librarian in Urbana, Illinois where he lives with his partner. They have two sons who live in the Pacific Northwest
