Softly, Now by Martin Willitts Jr.

The white noise of snow smooshes on the window,
splats of lace doilies — the stuff dreams are made of —
a piano playing a song we don’t want to hear
but hear when traffic stops, and the roads are closed.

The world soothes with this closure of noise
and frantic movement, nothing to do
except wait it out, burrow out later,
hope love keeps us warm in the white-darkness winter.

The snow knows the exquisite pleasure of drifting,
dangling its promises of huddling in
so that couples can spend time together,
sharing breath, breathlessly, finding the touch of love,
how it is never cold to the touch, and if done right,
can be as softening as the smears of snowflakes.

Martin Willitts Jr has 21 full-length collections including the Blue Light Award 2019, “The Temporary World”. His recent books are “Harvest Time” (Deerbrook Editions, 2021), “All Wars Are the Same War” (FutureCycle Press, 2022). His forthcoming book is “Not Only the Extraordinary are Exiting the Dream World (Flowstone Press, 2022).