Poetry

Those Early Winter Wednesdays as Inspired by Robert Hayden

by

Samantha Viles

Those early winter Wednesdays
When you have to layer on the clothing to stay warm.
Hands cracked and sore from
Being out in the air shoveling snow.
No one ever says stay home where it's warm.

I wake in a silent room with
Only the hum of the heater as company.
I'd get up and pile on the layers again,
Fearing the cold and resenting it all at once.

I never bothered to speak to Jack Frost.
I figured it would only get colder if I did
And my snow covered boots and weary soul
Couldn't take any more. Why couldn't I just stay home
In my warm bed and dream about summer?