(Winter Weather Advisory)

The Snow Man
- Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs 
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land 
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow, 
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

There’s a lot of bad weather out there this week, including dangerous rains in California and East Coast power outages. It brings to mind all the delayed capital and infrastructure expenditures that need to happen around the US as we lag behind other nations, despite the considerable investments and progress made by the Biden administration and the 2021 infrastructure bill. As the Atlantic aptly states, we seem to be in “Infrastructure Week, but for bribery.” Criminal pardons, Plane crashes, Tesla Cybertruck deals, etc etc… It makes one almost nostalgic for Trump I’s ‘infrastructure week.’

Today’s poem thus suggests readers can see things as they really are, with proper attention. This seems to be something too many people are unwilling or unable to do right now, and the task will become more complex with new technologies that need governance and aren’t getting it.

A hint for reading the poem: pay attention to the punctuation. Unfortunately I have fewer hints for helping see the world more clearly, since our democracy depends on this happening, but poetry is certainly a helpful lens.

Image credit: Making the snow-man Boston Public Library. Local Accession Number: 06_11_004672 Title: Making the snow-man. Statement of responsibility: The Universal Photo Art Co. Creator/Contributor: Universal Photo Art Co. (photographer) Genre: Stereographs; Photographic prints Created/Published: Philadelphia ; Naperville, Ill. : C.H. Graves, Publisher Copyright date: 1904 Physical description: 1 photographic print on curved stereo card : stereograph ; 9 x 18 cm. General notes: Title from item.; Part of series: The art nouveau (platino) stereograph.; No. 4680. Subjects: Play (Recreation); Snow; Snowmen; Children Collection: Stereographs Collection Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department Shelf locator: Children Rights: No known copyright restrictions