In the midst of the busy nature of the season, I have been hunting for a poem my class can read for fluency and analyze the final week before break, and I today finally came across one worth mentioning. Actually-it is simply beautiful because it gathers together the importance of simplicity but also this feeling of being surrounded by love and also appreciating the essence of life. 

once a snowflake fell
on my brow and i loved
it so much and i kissed
it and it was happy and called its cousins
and brothers and a web
of snow engulfed me then
i reached to love them all
and i squeezed them and they became
a spring rain and i stood perfectly
still and was a flower

Nikki Giovanni is such an impactful poet. That phrase "and called its cousins and brothers and a web of snow engulfed me" transforms the simplicity of snow into the human family of brothers and sisters wrapping around in a hug of sorts.

And I think this idea of snow turning to melted rain is just so profound. Who think about snow turning into a spring rain? This idea that the stark white which can sometimes create a depressing mood amongst those struggling with this time of year can be thought of as more of a cleansing, pure, beautiful liquid that flows into our souls and waters our hearts as if we are snow-flower. 

May you go out into the world over the next few days and even weeks and think of yourself as a snow flower and think of the person next to you as a snow flower as well. That snow flower trying to catch as much happiness and joy so much so that it feels like a blanket being thrown over your worries and troubles and transformed into a renewed perspective. New petals opening the doors around you.