The Snowpack glistens
Against a late November sun.
Weighed down by the burden
Of frigid memories that
Will later flow as torrents
Into empty reservoirs and
Neglected boating lakes.
 
Searching for patterns
In this frozen future fabric,
We weave potential snowfall
Across rocky murals of
Pixelated pigments;
The coarseness
Of our approach
Hinting at the threadbare
Canvas that lies ahead.
 
Perched precariously against
Withering watersheds
Frost lines recede like
Ageing widow’s peaks,
The clarity of their retreat
Washed out in the
Unfamiliar rains.
A century of frost:
Trapped
Between the liminal
Spaces of earth and sky.
Clearing the snow in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington State (Photo Credit: NPS Photo).
This poem is inspired by recent research, which has found that snowfall frequency is declining across the Northwest