Snow by Philip Levine
Snow
Philip LevineToday the snow is drifting
on Belle Isle, and the ducks
are searching for some opening
to the filthy waters of the their river.
On Grand River Avenue, which is not
in Venice but in Detroit, Michigan,
the traffic has slowed to a standstill
and yet a sober man has hit a parked car
and swears to the police he was
not guilty. The bright squads of children
on their way to school howl
at the foolishness of the world
they will try not to inherit.
Seen from inside a window,
even a filthy one like those
at Automotive Supply Company, the snow,
which has been falling for hours,
is more beautiful than even the spring
grass which once unfurled here
before the invention of steel and fire,
for spring grass is what the earth sang
in answer to the new sun, to
melting snow, and the dark rain
of spring nights.But snow is nothing.
It has no melody of form, it
is as though the tears of all
the lost souls rose to heaven
and were finally heard and blessed
with substance and the power of flight
and, given their choice, chose then
to return to earth, to lay their
great pale cheek against the burning
cheek of earth and say, “There, there, child.”
MARGINALIA
Ick. What was that drivel I posted yesterday? I must be hammered.
I wish I could just wash away. Join the rivers, until I dissolve into nothing.
Don’t mind me. I am trying to write bad poetry.
ABOUT PHILIP LEVINE
Philip Levine was born in Detroit on January 10, 1928. Levine published his debut collection of poems, On the Edge (The Stone Wall Press), in 1961, followed by Not This Pig (Wesleyan University Press) in 1968. Throughout his career, Levine published numerous books of poetry, including News of the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009); Breath (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004); The Simple Truth (Alfred A. Knopf, 1994), which won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize; What Work Is (Alfred A. Knopf, 1991), which… (more)
Read more poems by Philip Levine • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: city • winter • sorrow • Or browse the index
- If this work resonates with you, please consider supporting the archive. Thank you for reading.
Cynthia
this is the most poignant poem I have ever read