the weight
there is a subtle shift in winter where the snowy tree boughs go from being decorated to weighed down by the snow that piles on them every snowflake a Tetris block that floats on top of the one that fell before no certainty that the entire structure won’t collapse under the weight the weight that piles up slowly so slowly you don’t even realize how heavy it’s become until the wet branch sags and snaps and the snow splats on the pavement it was beautiful to everyone except the tree who had to bear the weight