religion

ICICLES--SIX FEET LONG, AND AT THEIR TIPS, as bright and sharp as needles--hang from the eaves: wild ice stalactites, dragon's teeth. I peer through them to see the world transformed to abstract whiteout. Little dervish snow tornadoes twirl across the blank. The car is out there somewhere, represented by a subtle bump in the snowfield. The old Jeep truck, a larger beast, is up to its door handles, like a sinking remnant: dinosaur yielding to …

…as war can sometimes be, though without most of the carnage. The sun rises upon diamond-scattered snowfields and glistens upon the lucent dragon's teeth. In the distance, three deer, roused from their shelter under pines, venture forth. They struggle and plunge undulously through the opulent white. Upstairs, I switch on the Shinto Weather Channel and the priests at the map show me the next wave--white swirls and eddies over Indiana, heading ominously east. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**