Whiteout Report

by Patricia Williams

Whiteouts arise
when snow falls dense and fast.  
Wind gusts blind, push bodies off course,
cause confusion.

Inner bearings scrambled,
pathways indistinct,
can’t tell sky from ground –
adrift in motion-filled, velvety curtains
impossible to penetrate –
lost a few feet from safety.

Whiteouts can happen
on summer days with minimal wind,
they come in many guises –
all of them dangerous.