First Snowfall by Nathan Graziano

Early December, and the first snow covers
all things on the outside. Across the street
a young mother pulls her snow-suited girl
in a blue plastic sled—the toddler sitting
upright with her legs straight out and arms
in the air. I’m watching from the window
in the kitchen, waiting on a pot of coffee.

In the windowless basement, my wife
and my daughter—suddenly a teenager—
wrap Christmas presents, side by side,
lost in folds and tape and tags and paper
and bright ribbons in a dank, dark place.  



Nathan Graziano lives in Manchester, New Hampshire. His books include Teaching Metaphors (Sunnyoutside Press), After the Honeymoon (Sunnyoutside Press) Hangover Breakfasts (Bottle of Smoke Press in 2012), Some Sort of Ugly (Marginalia Publishing in 2013), and My Next Bad Decision (Artistically Declined Press, 2014). Almost Christmas, a collection of short prose pieces, was recently published by Redneck Press. Graziano writes a baseball column for Dirty Water Media in Boston. For more information, visit his website: www.nathangraziano.com.