"Nixology," by R. T. Smith

[mosca]

Nixology
by R. T. Smith

Advice from a Weekly

To catch a snowflake
the science editor
suggests wrapping a plank

with black velvet
and keeping it ready
in the freezer

so no sudden flurry
can take you by surprise.
You'll need toothpicks,

he writes, for precision
study, and of course,
a magnifying glass,

if you want to see dendrites,
spikes and sector plates
behind the mask

of Belgian lace,
if you need to read
the elegant physics

of what falls.
Yet wouldn't it be better,
when cold clouds gather,

to go out empty-handed
and catch a flake
across the wrist

or on the tongue
and taste the almost
nothing where sense

and science meet,
winter's icy aria
to passing form

so gently sung.

From The Cortland Review