“Why We Need This Storm”
(c) 2015, by Kerri Nicole McCaffrey

They say it will snow two feet tomorrow—
the storm riding in like a pegasus
on wings of Arctic air.
And there is a run on milk at the market,
police needed to park you
at the hardware store,
and the group texts
are flying
like electronic flakes
burying our consciousness—
We have put enough focus
into smart phone weather reports
to shift tectonic plates—
though we don’t see the storms in each other
anymore—
just emoticons,
the pretty poppies
of our screensavers,
the narcotic of a search box—
as we look for everything
but ourselves
(are lost).
I want this storm to calm
like cotton blanket
on cold babe—
but for now,
let it break electric wires
and blow transformers
until we realize
lines are down
and spruce trees, felled—
that there is nowhere to look
except inside—
nothing to hear
but monks,
their hands on coarse rope
ringing church bells—

We need the silence of snow.