I know Winter well
I can smell it
Coming around the corner
A hundred days away

I know its winds
How they howl
Down the chimneys
And beat across the street
Pushing loose leaves like
Frighted critters
Scattering from the shadow
Of a swooping hawk

I know that cold chill
it pulls over town
As we hunker down
To the task of parceling out
The summer stash of cash
Bit by bit
Hoping it will last
Until ice cracks
And Spring begins to show
Some promise

I know Winter
How it broke my parents’ spirit
Each year
As they tried to squeeze from it
Enough to keep us warm
And bring a living to the table

How it takes from this town
Those who can no longer
Hold their backs against the wind
For one more year
To fight against its frozen fists

I know Winter well
And every time
I catch the first smell of it
As the leaves start to turn
And the squirrels
Move little faster
Over the hardening ground

I catch that hint

And there is a tightening
Of muscle
Against bone
So strong that for a moment
I am nine years old again