Acquainted With Joy Poem by Charles Chaim Wax

As soon as I awoke
I knew
there’d be no work
for me today
after all I’d been waiting
the entire winter
for a decent snowfall
and here it was
swirling
out of the sky
brilliant flakes
flashing
falling
without end—
infinity
to touch
taste
smell
see
hear
yet
everyone at
Spinoza High School
thought this need childish
and those teachers
who drove in
from Long Island
or Westchester
positively detested
even an inch
on the ground
but I said, “I was born in winter”
the only defense I mustered
for those devotees
of warm weather.
December 23rd
my earliest memory
dearest mommy
wheeling
my baby carriage
through
a blissful blizzard.