You, My Snow Flake Poem by Katherine Rhodes

I saw a boy today
trying to catch a snowflake in his hand.

Not satisfied with the flakes on his mittens
He would take his un-mittened hand
And follow the flake as best he could
frowning
when the flake took an unexpected turn
and seemed to gain speed
as it descended without a sound
to the ground

I once caught a snow flake.
Upon hitting my soft warm hand
it melted.
I looked around
seeing that the flakes
would not melt but stay on the ground.
I then realized that if I wanted to catch a snow flake
I would need to be like that cold hard surface
that it seemed to prefer
over my warm hand

the boy did not slip his mitten back on
and run inside where
surely hot cocoa awaited him and his solitude
rather he stood still, his hand out
silently surveying his options

I wanted to tell him
not to bother
that you just can’t catch the snow flake
no matter how hard you try
that flake doesn’t want you
it wants to be cold and comfortable
it won’t try to work things out with you
because it’s too much work
I thought ‘he’s going to freeze to death
waiting’

his hand no longer moved
he didn’t chase after a single flake
his teeth started to chatter
and just when he realized how cold his hand was getting
a snow flake landed on his palm

I saw the smile on his face
And tried to remember what it was like
To be that happy
Then I put my coat and boots on, left the mittens
And stood outside