Virgin Snow

What is it about virgin snow
unblemished powder hiding all the flaws
of an industrial world

covering lost memories from the day before
vulnerable and inviting
a new beginning?

Unlike the desert sand,
whose barren landscape
lacks the innocence

of the fresh snow.
To leap from the porch
and fall outstretched

like two large scissors
opening and closing to leave
an imprint of a heavenly angel

or to chase the dog to the top
of the hill then roll down
like a giant snowball

with the drops of blood
from a winter nosebleed,
crimson on ice dust,

sunlight bounces
off the surface making it difficult
to look but impossible to look away.