Snow

My father was a drunk. He married my mother
the month he came back from Russia
with whiskey in his blood.
On their wedding night, he whispered
into her ear about jet planes and snow.
He said the word in Russian;
my mother blinked back tears and spread her palms
across his shoulder blades like the wings
of a plane. Later, breathless, he laid his head
on her thigh and touched her,
brought back two fingers glistening,
showed her from her own body
what the colour of snow was closest to.