Beauty

The world is muted

muffled

as the snow sprinkles your hair

lice,

you remember a friend calling it once in 5th grade

you got mad at him for that.

Colors become no more than a passing thought

as the white blanket falls over the landscape

turning greens and browns into whites and grays

there is no more depth to the color,

just the occasional gray streak across the white.

The snow brings you the same feeling as always

solidarity,

feeling helplessly lost and insignificant among the swirling white flakes

a small, insanely unimportant mammal among the trillions of other creatures inhabiting this vast world.

During the few and far-between hours of meek sunlight

the world glitters

showing off its prized jewels dangling from the limbs of trees

dropped carelessly from the sky onto the ground

sparking, shining, gleaming

nature is proud of its creation.

When the night rises up to envelop the weak sunlight

the darkness surprises you;

silent and invisible

this can

and will

swallow you up

wrap its vast and cold arms around you

drag you down

but the stars

the snowflakes

they remind you to keep going

keep protecting yourself from the dark

keep shining like the cold flakes

as they fall from the sky

onto your tongue

this is what beauty is,

you think to yourself

as they melt the instant they hit your tongue

there one moment,

gone the next.

These short-lived, memorable experiences that inspire you

these moments are true beauty

snow dancing from the sky

falling off the trees

landing on the ground

moments like these are precious

you must hold them close to your heart

lest they be taken from you.