Snow Two

by Marc Mangel

 

they bought even as their leaders said dont buy

hoard;

the became squirrels of jerusalem

the happy people

the crazy people

they too formed lines

lines to buy film

for to snap is easier than to remember or to paint

and they galloped in the snow

kicking white dust as they roamed

and the fell

or threw

or jumped a thousand million times

to let it be clearly seen that they were indeed

happy people

happy to live

happy to be free

happy to feel cold

and wet and blizzard

 

and now

now there is no more blizzard

no more wet. but still cold

the whiteness rests in darkness

and gleams and reflects

it eases the darnkess to which we all succumb

for each darkness may be death

the snow rests

sometimes a clum glides from a roof or treetop

and with thud lands upon more snow

to rest there forever

and may be once you hear the soft sloch and loud groands

of mechanization trying to free itself from nature

as one or two crazies try to move

 

and the future

as all futures a prediction

a guess

more snow

 

January 1973 — Snow in Jerusalem