Villanelle: When the Snow Flies

I’ll be home when the snow flies
When lofty white women swell with quiet labor
A salty pearl drops, dissolves, and dies.

As dull Chill descends with his numbing lies
Sniff for that sparkling, truth-telling powder
I’ll be home when the snow flies.

When tongues first catch that small, cold prize
And diamonds melt like fleeting vapor
A salty pearl drops, dissolves, and dies.

When “Silent Night” drowns out your cries
Listen for that frosty whisper
I’ll be home when the snow flies.

When warm, woolen blankets of red and green dyes
Prick like lonely shrouds each December
A salty pearl drops, dissolves, and dies.

Look up! A thousand angels in disguise
Fluttering downward. Now remember
I’ll be home when the snow flies—
A salty pearl drops, dissolves, and dies.