Snow follies — Summary

Dave BontaCheerful

Snow doesn’t stop falling when it hits the ground; it just slows down for a while.

It’s like that talk-show host who ridiculed the idea of a day-time moon—

how I relished his show’s slow collapse, despite its glut of glitterati.

Show the whole poemHide the poem

Learn Poems app

Try the Learn Poems app

Everything from the website trainer, and more: new exercises, voice recording and sharing, reminders, quick review.

Dave Bonta starts with a quiet observation: snow keeps falling even after it lands, only more slowly. It's a small, surprising way to think about melting or settling, as if the motion never really ends.

Then the poem jumps to something that seems unrelated, a talk-show host who mocked the idea of a daytime moon. The link is the moon itself. Like snow that goes on falling, the moon is there whether or not someone believes in it, and the host's scorn looks foolish next to something so plainly true.

The speaker's feeling is a bit of gleeful satisfaction. "Relished" is the key word: he enjoyed watching the show slowly fall apart, even with all its famous guests. The word "slow" returns, tying the collapse to the snow's gentle descent. The mood is wry and light, with a small streak of pleasure at someone else's comeuppance.

Read also

More by Dave Bonta

All poems
ContemplativeDave Bonta

Painted Trillium

Trillium undulatum Painted lady, late riser, you rush out of the ground, get pollinated on the fly
ContemplativeDave Bonta

Initiation

Let him continue in the ground, he who is now dead, where all things hurry—
ContemplativeDave Bonta

In good light

On a maple’s pale bark, a zigzag ladder—old tooth-marks from a wandering snail? Green islands of moss