Dayton

When did snow become

       something else,

like from when it makes the yard

          trash disappear 

into a wondrous wizard wall

              was it when we

 figured out the demon litany

      of snowballs soaked in water

 nestling eggs of pain in every snow fort

        Sometimes there were tiny piles of coal

            or rocks 

for the core

         and me and my brother 

          had to run and hide 

               and fight our dirty war

  snow would taste so salty

          our poor bloody lips

      or slush holes and road crystals

              slinging tears

     Then it slowly turned into a 

         heaving hunched animal

grey from the concrete factory

          yellow streaks

    abandoned toys poking through

           colorful bones on roadkill

 

But it changed

    and in Texas, snow stayed

magical and 

disappeared gracefully

       the snowballs kiss a 

cheek and the fancy flowers

         are lips and fire

the kids are 

   not 

      stones.