It Was a Cold Winter


It was a cold winter
Not that winters weren’t cold
But today
The northern winds drove hard
Chattering the sound of the winter birds
And shivering the squirrels
That ran through the falling snow

It was a cold winter
So cold
That as I walked by the old graveyard
If I listened
I could hear the frozen bones
Of some old friends
Rattling so hard
That the earth slightly trembled
Beneath the falling snow

It was a cold winter
A winter of loneliness
A winter of poetry
A winter of early morning thoughts
Of you
A winter of wondering why you had gone
And who now held you
On these days of falling snow

It was a cold winter
One in which I realized
I no longer wanted to be
Alone
Or strong, or smart, or clever
One where I wished
The sun would come and melt
All the falling snow

It was a cold winter
The coldest winter
I could ever remember
Being alone
Watching the snow covered road
Rise
Like a beach
Before a storm
With all that falling snow

Cecil (C.J.) Krieger