Snow 1956 Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Snow 1956

Snowy night, streets were covered in a calm,
carpet of white and since it was Sunday morning,
with few cars about, the grubby town looked as
beautiful as a fairy tale; till Monday, when traffic
would churn snow into yellow, dirty slush and
people, in black or drab grey, would have mist
coming out of their mouths as they moaned about
the weather. In the park, the snow would last for
days and I could make my footprints large by
subbing my feet on white ground land contrasting
black trees and pale sky made for stark beauty; in
front of park benches where old men sat, talking
ships. Tobacco spittle. Winter 1956, colours only
appeared in comic strips, and in western movies.