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from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning,

Eight inches or more, the right kind of snow

for snowmen and angels

I turned up the heat another degree

got the snow shovel out of the basement

made a pot of chicken soup with white beans and onions

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In 1941, Leningrad was besieged by the Nazis

Women, children, and men too old to fight

slowly starved during long, freezing winters

eating sunflower seed cakes made for cattle

burning furniture for warmth

Bombs fell.

Frozen bodies made mounds

on snowy streets.

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Here I shoveled a path to the car

ate a bowl of soup

The siege lasted 827 days

Finnish and German forces

cut off all supply lines

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When the snowplow clears the driveway,

should I go to the store

for some more pears?