Winter Nights

 Winter nights

I long to stay inside

On these long winter nights

Tucked away in my tiny house

With weathered green shingles 

And the draft that slowly 

Creeps in 

From beneath the window sill

I sit in a rocker recliner

Well broken in

With a digital book at the ready

When I’ve neglected my weekly 

Visit to the town’s local library

I like to lose myself 

In someone else’s story

Forgetting the dropping temps outside

Those temps I’ve known since birth

The cold that silences the world

As you move slower 

And your bones creak stepping off

The deck’s old steps in the morning 

This year’s winter feels

Darker somehow

Sunlight evaporating by 4

It’s endless and it’s only Dec. 2

All ambition from Halloween to Thanksgiving is gone

Now it’s time for self preservation

Four months of temps anywhere from 0-30 degrees at best

It’s brings new worries

An aging car

An aging house

Do not take kindly 

To accumulating snow

Wood splits as my mind waits

For necessary repairs 

That may not wait til 

Spring

Christmas and New Year’s 

The memories left to keep me warm

Vovo’s porcelain Christmas Tree sitting in her parlor

The crocheted blanket and pillows on her sofa.

Her lamplight glowing from the street

Grandma’s tree decorated for the season. 

How her and Aunt Flo would show up late on Christmas Eve carrying large black garbage bags filled with gifts. 

All just memories now

Like a microwave warming from the inside and tears tread down the sides of my cheeks

I remember Christmas and New Years Eve.