even more than yesterday

today i saw a young boy in short sleeves shoveling a sidewalk leading to a busy intersection on the fringe of the ghetto. rest, i thought. the sun will melt it soon and your effort is not worth the trouble.

no one walks there.

the sky was blue in the morning and the sun lit it up like it hasn't since october. i tilted my face up and soaked it all in. how could i not smile.

the snow isn't sparkling like magic anymore, as it had not even a week ago. but in the bitter cold it sparkled like diamonds and on my way to my advanced writing class, in my own head i pronounced loudly "i believe in magic" and for those next couple of minutes the world was a better place.

all around me, microscopic worlds suspended in an age of ice are crashing to the ground.