First Snow

I yawned and stretched and opened my eyes.

Warmed up in a bathrobe I glanced outside.

The sky shone white and told me a story,

Of snow and cold and wintery glory.

My nose to the window, I breathed out awe,

And wiped 'way the fog that came from my maw.

The earth had been painted by snow in the night.

I saw down below a crisp layer of white.

The flakes were still young, ven'tring out on their own.

They wobbled and frisked 'fore landing on ground.

 Like feathers they spiraled and gathered in huddles,

'Til warmed by the earth, they melted to puddles.

But I didn't mind as I stared out with glee,

For in my thoughts sat a glowing pine tree.

My mind sang with carols, and shopping for gifts,

And making snow angels in cold snowy drifts.

Then as I watched, the sky became bare.

A flake or two puffed its way through the air.

The flurry was over and with it my hopes,

Of sledding head first down snow laden slopes.

I turned from the window, a little let down,

Afraid that, like last year, the winter'd be brown.

But before I suspected the sky shut the door,

A snowflake escaped and I knew there'd be more.

~Ruth N.