The Silence of the Snow
I was fortunate enough to have vacation when snowflakes fell from the heavens like it rarely happens in Vancouver. And a couple of days earlier I bought a new camera. No wonder I had the time of my life. Again…
The images on this page were taken at 8AM in Gastown, Vancouver’s old town.
* Ruth D. Velenski
The night sky is a dull grey white.
An opaque dust sheet floats so light
Upon the roofs and lamps and cars.
It settles so softly like falling stars.
It sneaks in crevices and onto window sills.
Piles up in soft layers over roads and hills,
Weighs down branches, envelopes bark,
Skips and flutters across the depth of dark.
With dawn a scene of raw meringue.
From bough and bridge and roof does hang.
Through night’s deep slumber – a silent world
Descended – a ghostly shroud unfurled.
In slow motion, life begins to show.
The traffic crawls in a funereal row.
Children squeal in soundless delight.
Pedestrians slide in voiceless fright.
A world transformed into monochrome,
An aerosol sky spraying its white foam,
Floating in breathless, boundless speed,
Submerging all with voracious greed.
*Ruth, I tried to find you online, however without any success. Please contact us if you are the author of this wonderful poem. Thank you.
Gastown is the original settlement that became the core of the creation of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a national historic site and a neighbourhood in the northwest section of the Downtown Eastside, adjacent to Downtown Vancouver.
January 2020/2026
