Freeze Tag for Snowmen

The snowmen are playing freeze tag

But Gerard keeps melting

The other snowmen told him

To get himself looked at

But he insists it’s global warming

And yes, nobody is saying

That’s not an issue--overall

But right now the temperature

Is below twenty degrees

And there’s no reason

For Gerard to be leaking

All over the place

‘Gerard,’ says one snowman,

‘If you’re going to melt

Then you can’t play

I’m not trying to be exclusionary

It’s just the reality of the situation’

Gerard is very put off by this

And some of the other snowmen

Admit that it’s a bit extreme

Considering Gerard is still perfectly capable

Of staying in one place

If he’s tagged

It’s just that he loses a little bit of snow

As the night progresses

It’s agreed that Gerard

Should be allowed to finish the game

But that tomorrow morning at the earliest

He had to go see somebody

About his diminishment

And the good humor battle continued

On into the evening

Each time a snowman was tagged

He would have to give the other snowman

His carrot or one of his coal buttons

But scarves were never exchanged

Because a scarf is where a snowman

Keeps his personality

Some think its in the hat

But truthfully

No snowman cares very much

For whatever’s placed

On his head

Phillip hides behind a tree

But ironically, it’s his limbs

That give him away

And he’s tagged within a few minutes

Of the game resuming

Charlemagne hides behind a van

And everyone forgets about him entirely

Because snowmen are not known

For their memories

He winds up alone in the driveway

Of the Porterfield’s all night

Wondering if he was a winner

Or a loser

Panna Cotta was ‘It’

And that meant chasing down

All the other snowmen

By rolling his bottom third

Like a unicycle wheel

Through the streets and yards

Of East Otherburg

Where it snowed exactly two days

Out of the year

And each day was treated

As a celebration

Due to its rarity and consistency

This was the in-between night

Of the two days

And after tomorrow

The snowmen would be greeted

With rising heat

That would give them all a bit

Of Gerard’s condition

Every year they reformed

To greet each other

And meet for the first time
Of many times

And someone would suggest

They play freeze tag

And it would be agreed upon

And nobody would remember

That the game always ends the same way

For you see, there is a point

In the night

In a night as cold

As the one between the two days

When it snows in East Otherburg

Where the temperature drops a bit too low

Even for snowmen

And the snowmen--already frozen

Freeze just a bit more

And wind up stuck in place

Even the person who’s ‘It’

And this time around it’s Panna Cotta

That’s why when the children of East Otherburg

And their parents

Arise the following day

They find snowmen all over town

In the streets

Behind vans

And in one peculiar case

On the roof of the local dairy farm

It’s only when a few extra layers of clothing

Is put on them

That the snowmen can come alive again

So they can finish out their game

And not a moment too soon

For the very next day

They’ve vanished

And nothing is left behind of them

Or their game

But a few carrots

And some lovely scarves

With lots

Of personality