Poem by Ryan Collins

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THE HALF LIFE OF SUDDEN BLIZZARDS

Winters went nuclear before our parents were born, before our grandfathers died from heart attacks shoveling snow. Passing clouds bursting with ash. The surprise flurries, the trick melting. Snow angels stuffed to the mittens with fallout. The gas floored, the tread worn useless. The ground spiked with coolant leaked from the glowing green cylinders of our dreams, where nothing goes wrong. Emergency sirens slushed. Ambulance lights spun out into drifts. All the sky blue salt in the world spread too late.