Upside Down

snowballs drop from
curled leaves, budded branches
rapid-fire, round, whole;
an upside-down battle
done by unseen hands

he finds reason not to
this unusual morning

across snow-filled streets
her white shoulders slope,
drop disappointment

the struggle ensues;
logic falls dogged and persistent,
visible to her as breath on
windows watching snow


From "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss, "At that moment, overcome with the tender brutality of physical existence with 'the insoluble contradiction of being animals cursed with self-reflection, and moral beings cursed with animal instincts' - Jacob launches into a lament..."