winter's first embrace is always shocking.
it greets you like a visiting friend, one who pulls you in and you 'till our bodies awaken to freshly baked bread and steeped tea. with winter comes lit candles, bringing the scent of beeswax to cold and crackled floors.
it comes quickly, so we preserve summer for the cold months to come. we allow sun to seep into our fatigued december hands with the techniques buried in all manitoban souls: spreading jam on toast, rereading the best novel from july, gathering together.
the days are long, yet I never
feel the tugging of spring. i yearn for the crackled leaves over the fresh
ones. i wait for socks that belong to boots, dismissing the bare-footed walks
on warm pavement.
winter’s first embrace is always
shocking.
yet when it comes it will hold us, pulling us in each year till the sunlight returns to days and favorite novels return to July.