April 11, 2021
Photo by Gabi Roozee
Silhouettes in the Snow
by Christina M. Ward
Stay right here, says a mother,
clearing the bench.
A girl, legs chilled and dangling.
Glittering sidewalks cover over, then are white.
Gone now, the footprints of a mother,
going, hunger in her veins.
A girl, thinks of dancing in the snow,
flurries spiraling as she turns,
chasing sidewalks ‘til they end.
A girl, collecting snowflakes on her jeans, waits.
A girl wipes her nose with her sleeve,
stays quiet and still, like Bunny-Bear.
A girl, doesn’t much like the dark.
A girl waits, until shadow fingers
stretch out in angled lines.
A girl counts them.
Street lamp glows, a bright
moon-orb, humming.
* * *
A mother walks a girl.
They dance on white sidewalks
like movie stars!
This is the wrong street.
A girl has forgotten Bunny-Bear.
Bunny-bear is sleeping ‘neath the white.
Like Snow White, says a mother.
The long way is nicer anyways.
A girl, shivers, tries to smile.
* * *
A girl, sleeping in the closet,
thumb, but no Bunny-Bear.
He is sleeping in the snow.
But the moon-orb is humming,
all night, says a mother.
A tune only the silence knows.
A mother says the streetlight is magic.
A mother, twirls away once more
and closes the door.