I felt the burn of winter
Those invisible tongues that climb up from below
And suffocate with each exhaled cloud
Appearing for a flash
---a vapor of existence
Extinguished as it swirls in the frosting breeze
And with each, the bite of ice--sinking lustily into my lungs
Striking out a warmth
A cough and a gasp and the flame dies down to embers
And within the ashes I slumber on
Clinging to the last ounces of winter burn
I can walk and not grow weary
And frozen within await the thaw of spring