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When It Snowed
It was almost holy when it snowed
waiting to see Santa at Sears
for a photo in a plaid coat & mittens
the real one was at Macy’s in Herald Square
Waiting to see Santa at Sears
Daddy took us to pick out the tree
the real one was at Macy’s in Herald Square
topped with an angel’s folded feather wings
Daddy took us to pick out the tree
I need a two-gun holster & a saxophone
topped with an angel’s folded feather wings
our house Silent Night & blue lights
I need a two-gun holster & a saxophone
when we finish caroling on Ryeside
our house Silent Night & blue lights
it was almost holy when it snowed
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In May of 2022, Janet Hamill was inducted into the Inaugural 100th Anniversary Hall of Fame of her hometown of New Milford, NJ, in the category of Arts & Letters. She is the author of ten books, most recently A Map of the Heavens: Selected Poems 1975-2017 (Spuyten Duyvil, NY, 2020) and Baby Parade (Vehicle Editions, NY, 2022), and the recipient of Publishers Weekly Book of the Year and the Pushcart Prize. Hamill has collaborated with poets and musicians Bob Holman, Maureen Owen, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, and Moving Star, artists/photographers Robert Mapplethorpe, Ken Tisa, and Michael Sypulski. Surrealist-influenced, Hamill has been an active member of the Seligmann Committee, which seeks to make the Swiss-American surrealist’s home in Sugar Loaf, NY, a protected site.
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Robert Henri, Snow in New York, 1902. Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art (Wash. DC)