First snowman

I press and pat snow stars
to shape you body cells.
set your shoulders,
six-pack you solar plexus.
you seem so solid in the glow
of pink ice flow and sky.

I feature your face,
pebble you eyes.
cone for nose
bush eyebrows
sprig moustache.

then dress you dapper
in hat with black band
button up a white shirt
and wrap your neck
in a crimson scarf.

I, a boy from the south
far below the snowline
where we make no sunmen,
live a world week of
sky fall and flake

the next day the sun strikes
as you begin to slide
into a puddle-huddle,
losing bone mass
and muscle tone,
discarding dress.

oh snowman you taught
ephemeral slipping away.
yet you still stand
between my boyhood hands
in that narrow gap
of freezing and melting.

unlike a god I could not
despite the artery scarf
breathe life into you
nose to nose, eye to eye.

From: McGregor Poetry Anthology 2013

Published by African Sun Press in association with the McGregor Poetry Festival

ISBN number 978-0-620-62302-5

The Poet:

Dorian Haarhoff (1944- ) is a poet, story-teller and mentor, passionate about imaging innate creativity. He believes in the power of metaphor to create new ways of being. A former Professor of English, he has participated at Poetry Africa, SA and at a Poetry Festival in Colombia, South America. He has written seven volumes (Poemegranites the most recent) and recorded a poetry CD. His wordshops are based on his text The Writer’s Voice.