“Snow Dream”

Blizzard of 1908. From the collection of Michael Mapes

For twenty days, and twenty nights,
It snowed, and snowed, and snowed.
For twenty nights, and twenty days,
It blowed, and blowed, and blowed.

The countryside around me
Was a billowed sea of white,
A world of whirling snowflakes
That fell both day and night.

The mercury went down, and down,
As far as it could go.
My shelves were getting empty,
My fuel supply was low.

Says I, “I’ll dig a tunnel
Down the highway to the town.”
I dug for ’bout a mile
When the snow came cavin’ down.

I awoke to find the covers
All twisted ’round my head,
And with a prayer unspoken
I tumbled out of bed.

The sunlight through the window
Was a brilliant golden beam.
What might have been a warning,
Was just a big snow dream.

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