An Encounter

The Lord sits with me out in front watching
a sweet darkness begin in the fields.
Jack Gilbert

It's late and snow falls
adding height to a wood railing
Light from indoors illuminates
the whiteness outside while
I brew tea indoors

Snow, loosened from the sky
drifts down covering bare branches
White envelopes a bird feeder,
cloaks a rock, swathes a holly bush

I open the door and watch the snow
swirl and descend until it rests
on my outstretched hand
for just a moment, then loses
its shape and melts

Releasing any attempt
to catch and hold a snowflake
I inhale the cold air
and watch the snow descend
on some bare spots