Once Upon a Frigid Night in the Mountains

Once Upon a Frigid Night in the Mountains

Written by Jonathan Henderson

January 21, 2014 @ 8:08 PM

Once upon a frigid night in the mountains

Where a valley converges East with foothills -

To its west and north with ridges, plateaus,

And to the south one-hundred miles thither,

The snow descends, and the children rejoice

As one unique snowflake and others descend -

She is bereft of Winter's kiss due to its spite.

It's a frigid night in the Mountains, friends,

No Spring in sight, and to those ends, my

Coat will only bear the brunt of her frostbite

For half as long or less as I choose to fight.

But if ever I wish for the clouds to explode,

Let there be snow! Please, let there be snow,

And I shall dance a jig for you, o' gods, yes,

For we beget to thee our eternal gratitude!

Those Smoky Mountain highs in Tennessee:
So beautiful, and why can we not be, please?

Why can we not feel a full Winter's blanketing

Rather than an air with its thumb upon its nose?

Those frigid days atop LeConte and Clingman

Shall baptize the inhabitants that be! And when

It falls south of old zero, they still get out, play...

... but not the valley folk. And what a shame.