A simple snowflake
        appeared before my eyes.
I watched
        as it fell
        gently
        toward the Earth.

“How clean,”
        I thought.
“How pure.”
This little snowflake warmed my heart,
        and as I witnessed its delicate descent,
I smiled unconsciously.

When suddenly
        my heart felt a chill
        colder than the shredding winter wind.
“It’s like no other flake!”
        I screamed within my mind.
“It is entirely unique in its beauty,
        and there shall never again be one like it!
It is Nature’s Artwork,
        and it must be saved!”

I watched
        as the snowflake
        plunged faster and faster toward the ground,
        seemingly unaware of its pernicious fate.
To preserve this snowflake
        became my instant obsession.

Without thinking,
        I lunged for the precious,
        suicidal gem,
        reaching out with my gloved hand.
Inches above the cold Earth,
        I grasped the snowflake,
        closing it securely
        within my protective palm.

Slowly I opened my hand,
        revealing only a pathetic spot
        of moisture.

– Tim Brooks