I Remember Easter In The Snow
The filthy crust of spring across the yard
Crystalline crunch against the beer bottle stucco
Everything in shades of mottled brown except
Candy coloured eggs tucked in secret spaces
When you were small as a jackrabbit
We could “hide” an egg atop the barren flower bed
Later, pink peeking from the eye level dryer vent
Lime green nested in the old tree’s gaping knothole
Even then we’d shout hot or cold and laugh
As you fumbled blind and ignorant of what we knew
With every year comes a new level of difficulty
A higher place, a deeper place, a place just out of bounds
The puddled alleyway
The garage eaves
The deep window wells
Implanted in the neighbour’s hedges
Tucked under a pile of sleds
And do not forget the egg in the exhaust pipe of grandpa’s van
We’d make you get your socks wet
Standing in the soggy melt to reach the branches
We would laugh to see your face scrunch with mystery
We were so good at hiding things from you
Today the sun shines brighter than I ever remember on Easter
Laying all the hidden things bare
I don’t think I can climb high enough to fool you anymore
Last night you told me you never did believe in the tooth fairy
Are we past the age of mysteries?
What else has melted away?