Writer: Mary Obrikis
The following poem is written by Mary Obrikis, one of our Holiday Competition Winners!
Every year I forget
What winter is really like.
It lasts so long,
But as soon as that first leaf
Springs from a long-baren branch
And that first sneeze lets me know
The long ordeal is over…
I forget.
I imagine it’s a coping mechanism
And that we must all have it
Or why do we stay here?
Maybe the change of seasons
Gives us more than we think.
It forces us, in all our technological glory,
To remember the world outside,
To honor the nature around us…
even when it’s trying to kill us.
We opt instead for a protection spell of sorts,
A ritual-in-spite that comes
with the first freezing temps,
the first accumulations.
This ritual requires time
and attention
along with many tools:
The hat, the scarf, the gloves and boots…
Lucky if you don’t need
long johns and snow pants, too.
A carefully orchestrated concert of warmth
Insulating you
for the ten second walk to the car…
