Winter is as delicate a time
As the dainty snowflakes
That land on your windshield
That you swipe away with a flick of a switch
It’s here one moment and gone the next
And yet
It drags on

Most welcome december
It's the happiest time of the year
According to all the songs
I hear everyone tell me
Joy to the world
But sometimes all it is
Is cold

Gifts with pretty red bows
Under trees with colored lights
I try to see the beauty
But it’s hard without naive eyes
I know the brokenness behind the smiles
And the crushing pain
Of loneliness

But the colored lights lining the roofs
Only last for a month
And then come down
The cheery songs on the radio fade
And the world goes back
To honking cars
And darkness

The sun leaves early
And comes late
The cold nips harder every day
School begins again
And the shiny new toys get put away
Heirlooms go back to storage
So do the smiles

And the season
Drags
On

Until time finds the switch
For the windshield wipers
And the delicate winter
Is swiped away
With nothing to show for it
But some new things
And a frostbitten heart