Snow

 

What you cannot name, you cannot perceive —

so goes the claim. And then they trot out Snow:

Exhibit A. Eskimos, some believe,

have fourteen, or forty-three, words for snow

(estimates vary), so their wintry world

is rich with nuance; they can discuss snow

with discernment, like boys discussing girls,

whereas, enfeebled by our one word, snow,

our meager English tally, we’re rendered blind

to snow that falls in dreams of snow, to snow

that dogs have rolled in, all the many kinds

of drifted snow, graupel, grits, popcorn snow,

Sierra cement, styro-snow, champagne

powder, pack ice, poo ice, rock ice, corn snow,

cauliflower, crud, crust, mush, frozen rain,

slippery slop . . .

                           We’re oblivious to snow.

 

 

© Michael Fleming

Brattleboro, Vermont

March 2016

 

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