0 Spring Forth

Frozen air chills my bones
wait quietly, patiently
to go inside
not a winter person
I don't welcome the cold
long for warmth to thaw my fingers
Wrap my frozen joints in air stolen from someplace else
Israel
Jamaica
Colombia
Brazil
Sit and wait in this bubble of warmth I've made
a sharp gust, my bubble pops
a pin to my happy balloon
left frigid
makes me ache
my breath freezes just past my mouth and falls in crystals
shattering on grey pavement
I wish to be somewhere else
so, like an animal I hibernate
dream I'm on a bed of clouds
warm and soft
feathery
playful rays of heat tickle my cheeks
and i wake on sunbathed pavement
sun dances on my browned legs
life springs forth from the dead ground
I throw off my shoes
dig my toes into the soft ground
slip the thick jacket off my shoulders
run with the awakening spring

--Emma D., 17