An Elegy for Winter

I have been in denial for a week or two.  I dread this time of year every year, and I try mightily to pretend it isn’t happening.  Still, right after my birthday, it comes like clockwork.  The end of winter.  Oh, I know there might be one last gasp somewhere down the line, but I also know that with two consecutive days in the fifties (in which the golfers are out in their short-sleeved t-shirts) comes the advent of spring.  

Let me state this unequivocably:  I hate the end of winter.  I don’t hate spring and summer, but I hate that I will have to say good-bye to seeing my breath and frolicking in the snow for three more months.   Yes, that’s a slight joke, but only very slight.  I deeply enjoy autumn as well, so I am fine with the one month we have it.

However, as the temperature rises, my temper decreases.  Kiki says she feels so alive with the sun beating on her back.  I just want to crawl into bed and wait until a freeze hits.  So, because I am feeling melancholy, I will now give the elegy for winter’s passing.

 i said  good-bye to a dear friend today
she is some i’ve known intimately;
i’ve cradled her in my arms tenderly
feeling her icy breath chill my soul.
she speaks not a word as she blankets me
with the soft, powdery white snow-
which enflames and deadens at the same time
leaving me exquisitely alive.
i clutch her to my chest
unwilling to let her go
sometimes, she is my only friend,
and i fear i will never see her again.
each time she leaves my embrace
my soul shrivels and hibernates;
I mourn with silent tears her passing-
until we meet again.