We had our first snowfall a few days ago. A December surprise. It’s been years since it has snowed this early. It was a cold, wet snow that left branches weighted down, near snapping. This reminded me of a brief poem I wrote back in 2013 after a long day of sleet. The storm had left us without power and that night in the silence, all I could hear was the sound of trees weeping as their branches snapped. The next day, the sun came out full force and the sleet began to melt. I wrote this poem that afternoon.

There’s no sound as beautiful
as falling icicles from branches
after a sleeting —
There will be no cracking
of branches nor crying
of trees this winter’s night