Saturday, January 22, 2011

Snow Mass

Snow and snow, and more snow.

Wraps wisps around obliques, thick leggings around verticals, and re-shelves narrow latitudes until they become fortress walls. Superimposes every inanimate representation till the essence within becomes a ‘higher form’ through the magnification of obesity.

Mortal man stumbles about inelegantly in multi-layered muffs and earthly frame. Up to the hips in a stupefying and terrifying abundance of snow.

Warm the air by sucking it in. Let imagination run wild. Mentally paint the landscape green and yellow. And even then, you will find no flavor of August in this day. Only a random arrangement of winter matter.

More, and more—tumbling, drifting, floating, and falling, into covers of instability. Snow-weaves of batting that like memory-foam-mattresses leave only imaginative outlines of what lies beneath.

‘Higher forms’ of a spiritual nature of what once was. Icons of holiness. With the crystal whiteness of altar cloths, lace, and silver chalices in place.

Listen. Do you not hear it? The Hymn of wintry solitude sung earnestly and soundlessly?
That song of consequent stillness, that sanctifies January. Its remembrance, and longer endurance.
Repeated utterance of the refrain and second verse, same as the first.

This is a January celebration of Vigil Mass on a white altar.
Vigil, as in waiting, and expecting more, and still more.

7 comments:

Pauline said...

I like this whole prose poem immensely but my favorite lines are these:

"Warm the air by sucking it in. Let imagination run wild. Mentally paint the landscape green and yellow. And even then, you will find no flavor of August in this day. Only a random arrangement of winter matter. "

and these:

"More, and more—tumbling, drifting, floating, and falling, into covers of instability. Snow-weaves of batting that like memory-foam-mattresses leave only imaginative outlines of what lies beneath."

Beauty and frustration bundled up in crystal whiteness! Well done.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Oh how I love this piece Roberta. I felt like I was standing in the amidst the stillness of a white wonderland while reading it. Just beautiful my friend.

And...as we speak....white fluffy flakes have coated the paths again. Expecting more....still more.

Roberta S said...

Thank you, Pauline. I so much appreciate you taking the time to critique what I write 'cause I so often feel what I write is such foolishness, and then I start to feel I shouldn't have written it, and then I start to feel I should erase it, and then I start to feel sorry for myself that I can't write better stuff, and then you come along and tell me it has merit and I feel so much better.

I didn't think of this as a 'poem', but a prose poem' works well descriptively.

Roberta S said...

Hi Joy, thanks for visiting. Just when I thought it would only take one more itty-bitty snowflake to 'break the camel's back' as it were, the sun came out, the snow stopped, and balmy temps have blown in.

Pleased you enjoyed my rant, hope the snow has stopped in your place of residence as well.

Pauline said...

Roberta - when you write right through all those feeling, look what you can produce! You have a wonderful way with description and a homey, down-to-earth style. Don't sell your abilities short :)

joared said...

Very evocative of memories from when I lived in winter's snow country.

"...The Hymn of wintry solitude...
that song of consequent stillness..."

Roberta S said...

joared, pleased I was able to rustle up in your mind pleasant memories of your own snow-country experiences.