Heartbeat Winter

If perhaps I close my eyes
I could forget standing
with my thoughts interrupted
by silence

I could fold myself
gently in snow
and forget
that the world never end
on a Tuesday

everything would stop
folded in snow
but the trees
with branches too bare
to hold anything by sky
would pulse into blue
heartbeat winter

Breathing slowly
I can see
why I don’t much mind the cold

---

Lindsay Griffin, Age 18
Brighton High School
Salt Lake City, Utah
Teacher: Patricia Russell (1997 Teacher of the Year)