Reprieve

It wasn’t snow
anymore but glitter
raining down from
some bright sieve
shaken over our construction
paper landscape
and turning us
into grade-school art
with macaroni birds
and too much glue,
which is maybe
why we stuck so well
side by side
in what wasn’t
snow but shiny
simple peace of mind
and calm that comes
from being fingerless
in warm mittens
without having to grasp
at finer details,
all the smaller work.
No tests of dexterity,
just boy walks with girl
and bumping
playful shoulders
in what wasn’t
for the moment
cold or slick,
what wasn’t hard,
what couldn’t have been
snow.