First Snow

Snowflakes fell

We watched in astonishment

Their peaceful cascade

Landing without a sound

But causing a ripple

An array of responses

Awe crested faces-

Eyes peering through

Frosted windows

At a world they imagined

Existed within the flakes

Nature’s dance

A perfect step

That we knew happened

Each year

Yet still each flake

An earthquake erupted

Changing plans

And rerouting trails-

Changing events we believed

We controlled-

Putting a pause on our movements

A halt in our climb

Just for now-

Reminding us of

Our humanity

And the quiet way

We are amazed by things

We can’t control-

By things we say we despise-

Simply because

We are unable to enjoy them

The way we did

With childlike innocence

When all we had to do

Was focus on learning

And drawing from the earth

The knowledge we knew

To exist

Before we were given

Clocks to read

And numbers to count,

Allowing our favorite paths

To collect dust

Like the fairy tales

We wanted to read

In place of the text books

Piled high in our laps.

We watch the snow

The flakes fall

And are pulled back

To the line of education

We chased when we were young

Our worship for the natural world

And all its beauty

Bringing us back

To the innocence of first snow.

Katrina Thornley is a nature poet and novelist that resides in Rhode Island. She has two poetry collections currently published, a novel, as well as a short story anthology. Her poetry collections "Arcadians: Lullaby in Nature" and "Arcadians: Wooden Mystics" were inspired by a local park and life in her small rural town. You can find them on Amazon now!

Also, be sure to give her a follow on Instagram (@seekatwrite).