Waiting for the snow

waiting for the snow
to fill the already cold
still air

we're going to
brave  another storm,
battening down

yesterday's soup will
last all through
the expected snow

in this harsh world,
the hardened earth sings,
 'love and acceptance'

a dance done
deliberately against
the channels of rivers

finally grasping
smooth stones,
ice-tinged air

becoming hot house flowers
in  winter--- paper
whites, red hibiscus

leaving the heavy
dark  wintry marches
for the light ballet
waltzes of chopin

hands, heart, and fingers
widened to play
the sounds of ancestral hymns

kjl '19