The world is endlessly white
And gray
And cold
And not much else

It has been this way for so long
Like a thousand-year winter
The light of the sun
Is shining somewhere else

So cold
Everyday
Without end
A tedious repetition

Even the snow days
Do not offer much joy
As they used to
It is still cold

For the first time
In a winter
I long for spring
Like my heat-loving mother

I long for the chirping of birds in the morning
Running barefoot
On sweet green grass in the sun
Burning gold into my hair

I long for summer thunderstorms
And the airy scent of ozone
And mud in my sandals
The bottoms of my feet turning rawhide tough

Vacations in the Outer Banks
And weekends Up North
Charging through the ice-cold river
Chasing minnows and frogs

I cannot remember
The last time
It had been above freezing
The last time I saw the light of day

A nationwide chill
Freezing roads
Into ice slicks
Bringing new records

The polar vortex
I will be telling the future generations
Of your ice
And snow

But then it begins to happen
Ever so slowly
But we notice
And rejoice like children

One warm day here
And another here
Like hopscotch
With the ice in between

And at last we break free
At least here we did
Digging out the bikes and running shoes
And raincoats long lost

I walk through the town again of my free will
The birds are singing again
I'm pretty sure they're rejoicing too
The thousand-year winter has ceased