White Winter

This January is the coldest it has been in a long time. Though the temperature remains mild, there is ice everywhere. It slips in and covers the streets. Threatening. Incognito. With little regard for the people it disrupts. People are afraid to leave their houses. It idealized a land of snowy white, pushing out the warmth of those who made this their home. Children relish the winter months for potential days away from school, but even they vanish as they succumb to the ice. The journey to and from work or the store is perilous for some. Now perilous for most. The gripping cold even pierces the places where you feel the safest— at home, in your car, in places of worship. The ice enters, latches onto you, and drags you away. Fighting is futile until the faces of Summer return to fight off the ice. This January is the coldest it’s been for a long time, and I’m tired of waiting for the sun.