Starting Over
Jan 3 2009


If it were only that simple,
a foot of freshly fallen snow.
So white, it hurts,
its smooth surface, perfect.
Re-making the world;
concealing
our sins of neglect,
our shameless omissions.

It fell all day
from a windless sky,
gentle relentless snow.
Then a clear black night
when the mercury dived,
shot through with stars.

The frost penetrates the earth
purifying the first few inches;
so much different than the tropics,
where thin fetid soil
is corrupted by humid heat.
And deeper still
in suspended animation;
so come spring, the land is renewed,
productive again.

I would like to be covered in white
as well —
a soft cotton gown
a heavy sheet
a shroud,
something to make me feel clean
if not invisible.

Or to be placed in suspended animation
on life support
in my sleek titanium pod.
Starting over
on some unexplored planet;
a traveller to a distant star.