Snow & Child – 2 Poems
by Joseph Roque
THE SILENT NOISE OF SNOW
I dreamt a memory
of my youth, in winter,
during snow.
Flakes on my tongue, all
worries undone, crunch
underfoot, each step
hard put. Every exhale
a fog-dragon’s tail.
Awkwardly, it swirled
and stuttered, clumsily
it flipped and fluttered,
soundlessly, mutely,
dead-calm quietly.
I chased the silent noise
it issued, and catching
it, draped myself in a
shivering shawl of
winter’s shredded tissue.
FIND THE CHILD
Childhood lost,
how much of me was forfeited when
innocence was stolen; how much
of me surrendered to adulthood’s
duplicity.
Back then,
love was pure and elemental,
simple as an innocent embrace;
carefree as a happy song—
steadfast smile always on my face.
Pity, when I discovered
the child in me was dead.
Oh, to be that sweet child again,
arms always open for affection;
never entertaining thoughts of hate
or the color of skin.
Instead, I grew, joined the ranks
of all the other unglued, confused clones
just trying to get by, trying every which
way to flee my new self; willing to sacrifice
everything, regardless of the cost—
To find the child I so happily used to be,
the child I so wanted to remain.
Joseph Roque is a poet who frequently writes about life, love, loneliness, growing older, alienation, and the joys of youth. His poems have appeared in Psychopoetica, Mad Swirl, Aphelion, Death Head Grin, The Poet’s Haven, RagMag, and Cerebration. His latest book is Ashes And Excuses.