“Brought on a different manner of weather.”

The Poem
An Old Story - Tracy K. Smith

We were made to understand it would be
Terrible. Every small want, every niggling urge,
Every hate swollen to a kind of epic wind.

Livid, the land, and ravaged, like a rageful
Dream. The worst of us having taken over
And broken the rest utterly down.

A long age
Passed. When at last we knew how little
Would survive us—how little we had mended

Or built that was not now lost—something
Large and old awoke. And then our singing
Brought on a different manner of weather.

Then animals long believed gone crept down
From trees. We took new stock of one another.
We wept to be reminded of such color.

The Beverage

Cranberry Juice Cocktail and Ginger Ale

Did you spend the whole day watching it snow from your couch? I did. It had always been my morning plan, but when the snow picked up this afternoon, it foiled my sweet Sunday evening plans. I can’t say I was particularly bothered. I then poured some cranberry juice cocktail and ginger ale over ice, and it is as good as anything. A little tangy, a little spicy, and a little sweet. The ratio absolutely does not matter.