By early December
The deep bite of cold
Has me shivering and fretting
Inside my puffy coat
As I hide from the wind

Fingers burn inside fat mittens
My nose stings and drips
In a most annoying manner
Shallow breaths
Save my throat from
The chesty cough that comes
From inhaling the zero

Yet
The first snow has arrived this October day
And I feel not despair or a sense of foreboding
But excitement
That winter has finally stretched and yawned
Its way back into my life again