I love being inside a snow globe—visiting a miniature village of snowmen or elves or penguins, ice skating by a quaint gingerbread house, or standing beside the Empire State Building, the Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore or waving from a balcony in Cinderella’s castle, or surrounded by hula girls and surfer guys on a snow-beach scene. Or I am the scene. Me and my red Ford Focus in the snow. No icy roads, no Dead Man’s curves, no subzero bridges, no camouflaged trees, no unfortunately placed telephone poles, no other cars, no men with snow shovels and ski masks, no grandmother’s carrying groceries, no children running into the road, nothing to crash into—except the glass.
Bethany Jarmul is an Appalachian writer and poet. She’s the author of two chapbooks and one poetry collection—This Strange and Wonderful Existence (poetry chapbook, Bottlecap Press, 2023), Take Me Home (nonfiction chapbook, Belle Point Press, 2024), and Lightning is a Mother (poetry collection, ELJ Editions, 2025). Her writing was selected for Best Spiritual Literature 2023 and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, The Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best Microfiction, and Wigleaf Top 50. Connect with her at bethanyjarmul.com or on social media: @BethanyJarmul.