Winter Compromise

Winter Compromise
Yussra MT Ebrahim
11/21//2013

what I love about winter
most of all is its smell
if not for that, I think winter
wouldn’t suit me so well

bleeding knuckles
the attacking cold
ice every day in your way
it gets old

but, oh, that smell
of the burning of wood
close my dry, frozen eyes
I breathe it, so good

blood throbs in the tips of my fingers
spinal cord trembles with chills
weather as silently calm
or electrically insane as He wills

winter is brown slush
caked on my shoes
winter is too slow
too long without hues

winter is dry skin
it itches so much
no insects, it’s true
instead there’s numb touch

winter is the cars
so scary in driving
winter is the plants
just barely surviving

winter is white and then brown and then gray
winter is night and then night and then day

winter is six months long
where I live
it’s tough to give warmth
when there’s no warmth to give

but yes, there is warmth
I guess I just forgot
on account of the frozen toes
and the snot

when I feel like winter
is a sorry tale
I just put on my gloves
and then, happy, inhale