Ruesday

Even the memories
of boys and girls
frolicking in blankets
of fluffy snow are frozen
deep in the darkness
of the furthest recesses
of my mind as the bite
marks of her icicle teeth
forever brand my soul.

But she's so pretty,
the faithful coo,
like a virgin bride
with a mile long train
covering the landscape
as she saunters towards
the crystal palace tossing
petals of white roses
till the fields glisten.

But rather than just
a sprinkle of sugar
sweetening the scenery,
the snowflakes take
root on the ground
layering inch after cold
inch and before long
like a horror movie all
escapes are dead ends.

Tree boughs break under
the weight as cars crawl
and skid into ditches.
Kids catch colds after hours
of sledding with noses
red and running and an old
man leans on a plastic shovel
cracking it and falling into a drift
dreaming of one more spring.