Chasing Snowflakes

A moment such as that one clings like a snowflake to your sleeve. You admire its intricate beauty as it quietly melts away into a memory. It’s these thoughts that sit on my shoulders, as I pace the city tonight. With every step I take along Carlton Street, those days seem a life time ago. All that surrounds me is a damp weight of night air. An air filled with complacent specks of moisture that refuse to crystallize. I fear the chances of seeing another perfect Christmas has whipped past me like a bitter winter’s wind, as this year it finds me alone, for the first time.

It seems tradition has become antiquated. I can see the evidence in the buildings around me. Behind the shadow of tarnished streetlights, Maple Leaf Gardens fades into the background. Its geometric brickwork is lonely without its iconic marquee. The blue and white banners have been pulled down as this once great landmark waits for its new grocery store awning.

Published in TOK: Writing the New Toronto, Book 7. Purchase the book to read the full piece.