Cucumbers and icicles

Sunday, Dec. 15 at 6pm
Black Box Theatre, Main Street Landing, Burlington, VT

Icicles
By Ruby Hoffman
Age 10
Essex Junction, VT
 
I run around 
to the back
of my house.
 
And hanging from
a tree branch are...
Icicles!
 
Clear like glass,
Dripping
Dropping
Clinking.
 
I tap one, and then another,
and even with the
smallest touch,
they sway
and fall 
and leave 
holes in the snow.
 
They grow
as winter goes on.
 
A wind picks up
and blows them,
making the small ones
dive
perfectly
into the snow.
 
Happy Winter
By Katelyn Johnson
Age 14
Chelsea, VT
 
Winter is my favorite season.
I love the snow more than I hate the cold.
I love shaking trees full of snow while standing under them,
rolling down a hill, trying to get covered in snow until I look like a snowman.
 
Snow covers the dead leaves and crops.
Everything out there that looked dirty is suddenly pure white.
Snow has a refreshing but distinct taste.
People think I’m crazy, but, to me, fresh snow tastes like cucumbers.
 
I love the scraping of plows against the road every day at 5 a.m. 
It’s playful and happy.
It lets me know there is fresh snow, another layer to the already two-foot-high blanket.
When my dad plows snow in the driveway,
he makes a huge pile of snow for me, even though I’m 14 years old.
 
I love looking out the window at the icicles, then looking back a week later,
astonished at how large and mighty they have become --
but it only takes a small push to knock them down.
Everything about winter is beautiful.