When it's really chilly, as it has been in Colorado this week, it's hard to not let the chill seep into one's mood. I was having a particularly difficult time reconciling the cold, especially considering I had just returned from three weeks in Argentina where we celebrated summer solstice on December 21.
But part of me couldn't help but admire winter, the way it just went for it, and trying to find the thrill in the chill brought this poem. It might be a fun exercise to take something that is bothering you and consider what there is to admire about it ... it won't change the condition, just your mood. And that's a pretty good deal.
The Poet Returns To Winter After A Month In The Other Hemisphere
Wind whipped lips, flake whirled
and slush footed, slap cheeked
white lash chill what whine
from these undowned thighs
brittle boned and toothpicked
now now take me inside gray strident
sleet wish come back june,
but god do I love how the winter
goes for it with everything it’s got.
Makes me want purple skirts long and light
might just spin spin and rakishly spin
violent swish of silks rising
till tumble down tipsy, red laughter and warm
at last from the inside out.