(written 2/6/2015)

a heart of ice

its flesh unkind

windy rain burying my calves in chills I can’t shake

a storm builds and preys on the trees

the grass bends at the waist

the flowers crumble to their knees

the clouds melt into dark puddles and fall like glass shards

water clings to the road in frozen fear

my hair whips at my face as the cold air throws it around carelessly

the wind changes from a whisper to a yell to a howling scream

the earth seems desolate as the winter consumes the final drops of sunshine

every plant succumbs to a freezing death

a slow hypothermic tragedy

my ears are numb and my chest tightens with every quick frigid breath

the sky threatens to end life as we know it

we shakily wait behind foggy windows for the ice to shatter like a thousand broken mirrors

the suspense cracks under the pressure of the dropping temperature

we watch the wrath of winter prevail