Handle With Caution

Encountered, this very day,
a familiar old acquaintance
admired widely for its handsome
presence, esteemed since
presence equals leisure-sport
activities -- and feared wit
a profound respect for the 
manner in which an
entire arras, urban and rural
becomes transformed.
Creeping into the darkened
landscape on countless silent
flakes of snow, winter arrives,
transfixing us with the 
regal beauty of its ermine
white majesty gleaming in
the moonlight, beckoning children
to play and adults to cavort on
skis and snowboards while
motorists exert highway caution
in whiteouts and home thermostats
are turned up to baffle the winds
roaming icily through crevices and
fireplaces leap their warming flames
to counter the frigid atmosphere.