Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OLD JOSIAH PREDICTS, by ESTHER HOUGHTALING


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OLD JOSIAH PREDICTS, by                    
First Line: It looks like snow,' josiah said to us
Last Line: "he glanced around, ""I wouldn't doubt,"" he said."
Subject(s): Prophecy & Prophets


"It looks like snow," Josiah said to us
As he tipped his fine old head way over back
To peer upward at a swiftly fading sky.
A sky that had been blue an hour before;
A blue it seemed our fingertips could touch.

He said he felt it "close" and, as he spoke,
He raised his arm and pressed his open hand
Against the coldness of the morning air;
Finding there some unseen guarantee
Which meant to him -- his prophecy was good.

"It looks like snow," Josiah said again;
And as we smiled at his repeated words
The shrouded sky let down a chilly veil
That settled on the ground like dewdrop mist;
A mist that quickly whitened as we watched.

"Winter's apt to start its stay like this:
The snow asiftin' down, slow-like and fine --
But I wouldn't doubt, before the night sets in,
That you will wade through drifts, wind-piled and deep."
He glanced around, "I wouldn't doubt," he said.





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