This haiku was inspired by the years I spent working in downtown Syracuse (and my weakness for alliteration!). Sometimes, the best way to determine how heavily it's snowing on a winter evening can be to look at the rows of streetlights and observe the speed and volume of snowflakes that tumble through their glow — the twirling, dancing effect on a snowy night can be mesmerizing. And when the snow begins to accumulate, it has a quieting effect — a layer that settles like a blanket, muffling the sounds of the city and creating a sense of stillness. With the word “spins,” I tried to capture that frenetic energy that comes with the onset of a heavy snowfall, but also nod to the way the snowflakes ultimately weave together into something bigger than themselves alone.