were these words
the magic i always wished them
i'd wish them to spring up
like little children dressed
in their neat little overcoats
as in the story you told me, magda
when you lived in israel
a country where it never snows
except on mt. hebron, not a very tall mountain
but every two or three years
i can't remember the exact time you told me
but if there was a chance to snow
that's where it would snow
but when the forecast gave the possibility
on such and such a specific day
all the young children that could be transported
by bus were sent to that mountain
and if they were lucky and the forecast was correct
how with their arms stretched out
the tongues sticking out
fell the snow on their foreheads
watched it melt on their overcoats
screeching all the while
at this newly found miracle
and you, magda, still watching
their joy