This is Poetry Moment on WPSU, a weekly program featuring the work of contemporary Pennsylvania poets. Your host is poet and author Marjorie Maddox, a 2023 Monson Arts Fellow, author of more than 20 books, and Professor Emerita of English and Creative Writing at the Lock Haven campus of Commonwealth University.
Welcome to Poetry Moment. I’m Marjorie Maddox.
Easter is the season of resurrection, spring, bunnies, and tulips. If you’ve ever been caught in an Easter snowstorm, though, you know that the white stuff can appear—even in Pennsylvania. However, today’s poem, “Easter Snow” by Julie L. Moore, is about much more than weather. The poet says, “I want to live and write in the realities we all face, and those realities are hard and sometimes harsh—yet also grace-filled.”
Raised in south Jersey, Julie L. Moore enjoyed time with family in the Philadelphia area as well as in the Pocono Mountains. She is the author of four poetry collections, including "Full Worm Moon," which won a 2018 Woodrow Hall Top Shelf Award. “Easter Snow” will appear in her fifth book of poetry, "Devil’s Backbone," forthcoming from Wildhouse Publishing. You can learn more about Julie’s work at julielmoore.com.
On Easter, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Others might observe the holiday with Easter baskets, dyed eggs, and family dinners. Whatever your background or practice, the lush, lyrical language of today’s poem will draw you in. Author Julie L. Moore explains, “[“Easter Snow”] is trying to get at the irresistible grace I believe God offers us.”
Here’s “Easter Snow” by Julie L. Moore:
Easter Snow
May it fall, though it has fallen
many times before. May it
land upon the downy heads
of dogs in the yard, cows in the field,
& chickens squawking
outside their coop. May it
dissolve on tongues of children
walking to school & arrive
like a prophecy fulfilling itself
on the shoulders of factory workers
in a line stretching out the door,
as they take long drags from their Pall Malls
or talk to their spouses on their phones
& wait to punch the clock.
May it alight like the soft tap
of dust we are made from
on the backs of cable guys & cops,
plumbers & professors, nurses
& engineers heading to jobs
in this common hour, toting
coffee they brewed themselves,
complaining about the weather.
May it anoint the foreheads of the home-
less on the streets, disabled daughters,
trans children disowned & alone,
single parents clutching coupons from S.N.A.P.,
remind them all that God sits with us
on the cold stones of our need
beneath the sky shedding its glory
piece by piece,
& ease the yoke convincing us
to walk the earth like Marley’s ghost
forever doing penance.
Something else is in sight.
Look: these fragile flurries
voice their language in an opalescent
code, which you & I & anyone
can decipher, can know.
“Easter Snow” was first published in CMW Journal (CMW stands for Center for Mennonite Writing) and will appear this spring in Julie L. Moore’s forthcoming book of poetry, Devil’s Backbone (Wildhouse Publishing).
That was “Easter Snow” by Julie L. Moore. Thanks for listening.
Listen for Poetry Moment with Marjorie Maddox, Mondays during Morning Edition and All Things Considered on WPSU. You can view more episodes at wpsu.org/poetrymoment.
Our theme music is by Eric Ian Farmer.
