Snowfall in the Afternoon

Photograph by Glenn Petranek


Snowfall in the Afternoon


1

The grass is half-covered with snow.
It was the sort of snowfall that starts
in late afternoon
And now the little houses of the grass
are growing dark.

2

If I reached my hands down near the earth
I could take handfuls of darkness!
A darkness was always there
which we never noticed.

3

As the snow grows heavier
the cornstalks fade farther away
And the barn moves nearer to the house.
The barn moves all alone
in the growing storm.

4

The barn is full of corn
and moves toward us now
Like a hulk blown toward us
in a storm at sea;
All the sailors on deck
have been blind for many years.


Robert Bly

Posted over on Shigeku