I was prepared for “different,”
packed blankets, sweaters
and clothing meant for “warm.”
I was ready for cooler climes,
snow, frost, even the chill of alone.

I fled on a rain washed day,
some would have said
did not bode well for fresh beginnings,
but I put a past in my rear view mirror,
drove through places I had known,
to points due North.

Now nights carry wood smoke,
the scent of cedar, the breath of pine,
the sky is brilliant clear
and the night stars do jazz hands
across my dazzled eyes.

They say I may be lonely,
having left so much behind me,
they warn that true winter
may ache me to the bone,
but three months of
no battles,
90 days without harsh,
12 weeks of “deeply calm”
and I am ready for any damned thing
the Snow Queen can throw my way.

Bring it on,
you never knew the cold
I knew before I flew.

©2012, Lisa Shields

Lisa Shields resides in New Jersey. Her first collection of poetry was released from Iriswhite Publishing in 2005. She has poems in all three of our other seasonal anthologies: “Calling Card” and “Pinked” in the spring collection, “Wisteria Woman” in the summer collection, and “Sweater Weather” in the fall collection.

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