when it snows in april

Because yesterday I woke up and it was snowing, and because it is still (just barely) National Poetry Month, and because I read through some of my old poems last night—really, really old, as in over 20-years-ago old, and because some of them made me smile and some of them made me cringe and some of them made me sing and some of them brought tears to my eyes, here is one, from the me who was me, twenty years ago.

Because I’ve spent a lot of time wondering lately, if I’m that me, or this me, or some other me that falls somewhere in between…

::

forecast (leavings).

in the needle i used
to repair your cast off laundry
i caught this brief flash
of remembrance:

you were standing
at the counter with your head
tipped back in laughter
(or what passed for laughter at the time)
and i was leaning close
to the side of you
i cherish still,
though it gets farther
away each morning.
we were young,
and vibrant,
ideal in our love and
virtuous, framed against
a backdrop of black
storm clouds.

and then i shuddered, and
moved the memory back a stitch,
and then another, and another,
until you were just a speck
on the hurricane horizon
and i was the wind
that carried you.


11 Responses to “when it snows in april”

  • georgia Says:

    quite beautiful. i wish i could write poetry the way i see others do. i can say i am better than i used to be, but still so not where i want to be. but i’m content just reading appreciating it for now.

    you had snow???!!! oh, my. i think i would cry if we got snow at this point. although, it has been getting down into the 30s at night, so i would not be surprised, either. love your photo. reminds me of a photo i took last sunday of a driveway that was covered in white… only it was not snow. it was the petals from a white flowering tree. it was really quite neat. i plan to do a post about it.

    happy wednesday to you, s.

  • georgia Says:

    heehee.
    oops.
    meant to say “k”, not “s”.
    i think i need another cup of coffee to wake me up!

  • Debi Says:

    I dreamed last night it snowed. It is Texas and I feel it will never get warm.

    ” . . and I was the wind that carried you.” That is power.

  • Marcie Says:

    Just beautiful!!! And – I heard you guys got quite an unexpected dumping of the white stuff!!!

  • beth Says:

    snow….really ?…..i think i would need medication or at least a really strong drink if i woke to snow at this point in the year….even the winds felt cold today under the sun with the temperature reading 60….so snow….no thank you.

    and your poem….your words…..beautiful and when you find you, let me know, but i kinda pretty much actually quite a lot, like who you are now 🙂

  • Tracy Says:

    There is nothing I can say that will stand up to the power of your poetry… so I will just go with… thank you.

  • wholly jeanne Says:

    your poem is absolutely exquisite. so delicate, so tender, so evocative. sudden memories of relationships like that. “young and vibrant” then over, angst, and eventually: specks.

  • sil Says:

    Even though it’s not that easy for me to read a poem in English, I must say it moved something inside me. Your words are so beautiful.

  • Deetz Says:

    You make us so proud

  • Kimberla Says:

    People get older and leave us. Things change. We change. But I really believe that the core, the soul of a person does not. You may have gotten older, but I bet you’re still that person from 20 years ago, albeit just a little wiser.

  • jill Says:

    the poem is beautiful and I think we all wonder if we are the same person we were 20 years ago, sometimes it feels like an entirely different life altogether.

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