all that holds us down

In the intervening hours
we've stopped, taken
breaths laden with snow

and watched the oddest
little spectacles
en route to a neighborhood
convenience store

this is all that it needs to be,
these moments of joy and brevity
and those of harsh reality

the definition of gravity
is simply put as if by
a child,
all that holds us down

yet we soar, you and I
above the tips of the pines
into ice castles of dreams
and crystal powdered clouds

fall like rain
as we eventually
touch down

even if we lie,
like snow angels
with untold pounds
of pressure upon our
chests it can be assured

that your hand
will be in mine
and in time

we will stand again,
never once frozen
only for a time

trapped to a moment
that prohibited flight