CELEBRATING A TAPESTRY OF LIFE

Juanita Book

By Juanita Torrence-Thompson

©Copyright by Juanita Torrence-Thompson


JUANITA TORRENCE-THOMPSON is a poet/writer/speaker whose award-winning work appears in U.S. and Canadian journals and online. See her poetry and book information at: Poetry Town. See Barbara Hantman's review of Torrence-Thompson's CELEBRATING A TAPESTRY OF LIFE (Torderwarz Publishing Company)at: The Pedestal Magazine

SNOWMAN MEMORIES IN MASSACHUSETTS

I am six years old
The ice forms
a lacy curtain
on our windows

Uncle Bobby says

Hey Nita
Want to build a snowman

In no time flat
I dress in my green wool snowsuit

Bobby says damp snow is perfect
for a snowman
First we horse around
And have a little snowfight

Come on peanut, Bobby says
Let's make that snowman
Before it gets too cold

He shows me how
to make a firm, round snowball
then roll it down the hill
'till it's gigantic
We do the same for the chest
Only it's a little smaller
Bobby and I lift it together
and place it atop his torso
Bobby picks me up
I place the head
on its shoulders
We bend wire hangers
for the arms
Put snow on them
Get coal from our coal chute
for the eyes
a carrot for his nose
cauliflower for his ears
Red dogwood berries for his mouth

Bobby puts his old baseball cap at a rakish angle
on the snowman's head
His worn policemen's jacket
so the snowman won't be chilled
I put my green mittens on his hands
to keep him warm
And stick my bubble pipe in his mouth
So he won't be bored