The snow poems

I have started writing a series of twelve poems that I call The Snow Poems. They are based on a found poem that I discovered, listing the eleven Inuit words for snow. I have known about the list for some time, but when I saw the list, it struck me that it is a sort of poetry in its own right, hence the found poem. I have printed the list in the intro at the top of the page on wordcurrents.

I have found the writing of this series to be a trip down memory lane for me, because I grew up in the North, where there was really a lot more snow and cold than I experience in Southern Ontario; for example, I can recall walking a mile and change to school with my sister, who was in grade four at the time: the temperature was fifty-seven degrees Fahrenheit below zero. At that temperature, your breath freezes right out of your lips. Your tears freeze on your eyelashes. You have to keep a scarf or your hand in front of your mouth so the inside of your mouth does not freeze when you inhale. I delivered the mail one Christmas vacation in my hometown of Kirkland Lake while I was in University: the warmest the temperature got each day at noon was thirty four degrees below zero, Fahrenheit.

Ah, the good old days.