City in Snow
after Italo Calvino
This city in snow is not the same city it was before the snow. This city before the snow was a city of concrete, honking horns, people crossing streets to avoid others. This city before the snow was darkness even in daylight, deafening howls of voices—like coyotes marking their territory, shrunken fruit drooping from branches. This city in snow is the same city—the same name, but a city unfamiliar. A city of dreaming—of color—red maples, golden aspens, burnt orange, scarlet. This city in snow is a city of calm. Tranquility. Quiet. It is a city of possibility, where no words are needed. A striking city. A city of understanding, of what if. This city in snow is a city of kindness. It is enough.Susan Bucci Mockler’s poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals, including the Maryland Literary Review, peachvelvet, Maximum Tilt, Pilgrimage Press, Crab Orchard Review, Poet Lore, The Northern Virginia Review, Gargoyle, The Delmarva Review, The Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Cortland Review, The Paterson Literary Review, Lunch Ticket, Voices in Italian Americana, and several anthologies. Her full-length poetry collection, Covenant (With) was published by Kelsay books in 2022. She teaches writing at Howard University in Washington, D.C.