Snowed In

It presents, this all-encompassing landscape
of sky's frozen cloudbursts falling to Earth's crust
as transcendentally lovely, our world transformed
from winter drab to shimmering translucent, a
pale white veil of winter's icy blanket muffling
our city in visual glory. But this snowfall is not
on this occasion the gentle tumbling of ice
crystals spiralling through the atmosphere.

This is one of those quite special events, alarming
in its seasonal intensity with the frigid elements
of winter not merely decorating, but fiercely
dominating our icily-bound environment
whipping skeins of fleecy snow into a frenzy of
elemental hysteria. Winter anarchy reigns, the
insistently howling wind tossing dense veils of snow
into opaque draperies, mounding roofs and roadways.

Familiar landscapes suddenly disappear, schools
are closed, business shuttered. Chaos on the roads,
as traffic ceases its progress and drivers lose
patience, courtesy and time. Ambulances rush
clanging to accidents and police attempt to control
frantic commuters. Watermains burst in ageing
infrastructure, spraying the falling snow, halted
vehicles and shop fronts with a brittle rainbow.

As expeditiously as homeowners clear their drives
and sidewalks, the wind slaps shovel-tossed slush
back into bare faces, the incessantly falling snow
heaping them to their former heights. Everyone
alert and expectant, managing as they may the
event the warning was issued for as a public service.
A thought: it should be unlawful for winter jackets
to come in colours other than red, yellow, orange.

People must learn to smile through frustration.
Expectations of municipal action to counteract
storm-caused contingencies should be patiently
shelved. We have the means and the privilege
enabling shelter from nature's ravening outbursts
and must therefore abide until she relents. Until
then, resolutely make our way through the
icy winds, snow fog, sleet and sheer unrecognized
opportunities to re-challenge childhood.