Open Hearts, Open Minds #4: Snow the Day Before Hallowe'en

So already, no one in Massachusetts was dreaming of a white Hallowe'en.* But we got one this year. The snow fell in Quincy and Weymouth before it reached south to Hingham and Marshfield Hills on the Friday morning the day before Hallowe'en. Meeting on Zoom, the members of my poetry writing group, The No Name Poets, divided our attention between the snow falling outside our windows and our own faces on our individual computer screens.

I believe that everyone--not just the members of my poetry writing group --has been hungering for and prizing those moments when, for whatever reason, the pandemic temporarily recedes, and we're able to recall other ways of being and feeling in the world. That snowfall created such a moment. 

Susan Trausch on Zoom

At our most recent meeting just last Friday--three weeks after that snowy Friday morning--Susan Trausch shared a poem about it. That pre-Hallowe'en snowfall--and really, any weather event that captivates and enchants--works on us, "opening the heart." We begin by watching, but then we sense changes and insights. We feel better.

So here is Susan's poem. With her permission, I share "First Snow, 2020."

It came early,

Happy Halloween

From Mother Nature

Dressed in white,

Making children laugh,

Making grownups join

Faces pressed to windows,

Entranced by transformation.

 

It came early,

Quietly, gently,

Antidote to toxic talk,

Plague fatigue,

Television burnout.

Watching weather

Painting landscapes

Felt so easy on the eye.

 

It came early,

When we needed a break –

Just before election day,

Before Standard Time dark –

Friendly, cleansing cold

Jolting us awake,

Opening the heart

To a little optimism.

Thanks, Susan, for letting me share your poem here--and for reminding us all how something as common as uncommon weather can reconnect us hopefully to the world and to one another. The heart does open!

* Photo accompanying Yahoo! (2014, November 11). Arctic blast in the Midwest. Yahoo! News. https://ph.news.yahoo.com/photos/actic-blast-in-the-midwest-slideshow/woman-shovels-snow-minneapolis-photo-235348877.html.