A Post-Midnight Reflection on a Snowstorm

Suspended in a Snowstorm by Nina Nguyen

I hug my shoulders tight
While I’m standing  with no light
My hair flies in the freezing air
While I’m screaming at nobody there
I’m paralyzed in the cold of depression
My happy smile has made a recession

I’m slowly disappearing
Into a stone cold stare
I  see all the things I’m fearing
I see my monsters everywhere

I’m hearing laughs but they aren’t mine
And slowly I start to cry
My heart is breaking I don’t know why
Stuck in the dungeon of my mind
I think I might die

Cause they pull on the chains
That are pulling me apart
Frozen to the touch
They’re wrapped around my arms
Holding me tight
Cause no one else will
Lost the urge to fight
So my body stands still.

Sitting at my computer in the middle of the night, this poem from “a child in the freezing depths of snow blanketed Minnesota,” in turn, inspires a short reflection on a walk I took during Brooklyn’s recent snowstorm.

I remember treading along the sidewalks, strolling past the suburban houses and apartment buildings lining the neighborhood.

The snow was mostly untouched – like a cliche blanket of white upon the dirty stone-like roads.

The trees were dressed in alternating thin to thick veils of ice and cold.

Their leaves frozen in various states of decomposition,

The stark greens, yellows and reds outlined by the falsely comforting cause of their deaths.

And there I was taking photographs of them -deriving serenity and calm from the whimsical tragedies I captured.

No one could stop me from my celebration of nature’s seasons.

Not the freezing fingers that delicately held my phone,

Not the labored breaths I took from over-consuming the cold air around me,

Not the droplets of melted water covering my shivering legs.

Nothing but the dying battery in an unfeeling piece of metal – the sole witness to my peace.

-L.L.L.

Check out Nina Nguyen’s other works here. She is brilliant.

P.S. Still wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving despite this slightly depressing post!

Images taken by L.L.L.