Christkindlesmarkt, Nuremburg, Germany

Once upon a snow globe afternoon
you weaved between the streets
beyond the evergreens. The cool

melody of December chimed beneath your feet
as you threaded your way into the evening
accompanied by the blossoming-sweet

melody of the earth’s soft breathing.
To know wonder is to wait
for snowflakes beneath the grey cathedral:

to gaze up into the memory of the ages,
to sense the gentle breeze
bringing promises of a marketplace,

the lingering whisper of cinnamon
and winter. That night the sky
became your childhood, glistening

fingertips of lace defying
the gravity of time, bound
to life’s intricate embroidery:

the infinite sound
of falling snow, the pause
just before it touches the ground.

Ana Reisens is an emerging poet and writer. She was the recipient of the 2020 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award, and you can find her poetry in The Belmont Story Review and the Fresher Press anthology Winding Roads, among other places.