Dana Rice: October Snow

October Snow
Savitaipale, Finland

It falls
on the still green grasses
on the golden autumn leaves
on the scarred trunks of the weather-aged trees.

It falls
in gentle drifts,
bringing light to the storm-darkened world,
white against the rooftop of the little red house.

And yet

almost as often as it falls,
kissing the ground it touches,
offering its message of glowing radiance,
as though a missionary from the heavens above,

it dies.

It dies
because it has come too soon
and the leaves on the trees and the grasses in the ground are not yet ready for salvation,
rooted as they are in youth.

And yet still

here and there
in the low-lying fields,
in the grey hollows where the elk roam,
it clings.

There it is embraced,
welcomed by the giving of life,
and the sacrifice of those dying
is marked by a white streak of dignity.

Dana Rice