Long Childhoodwinter Poems

Snow

I am finding that as I become creakier and so much older,
That I tend to keep peering back over my shoulder,
At the feckless and carefree youth I left so long ago,
Especially the happy times spent romping in the snow!

In yesteryear, I eagerly anticipated snow sans the worry,
For frozen pipes and icy roads with every wintry flurry.
It was my Pa's problem to deal with such mundane things,
Resulting from the howling blizzards that Old Man Winter brings!

A day wasn't complete without a rollicking snowball fight,
Or speeding downhill on my Flexible Flyer in headlong flight!
What sport to slide on frozen "cricks" using my boots for skates,
And falling on my rump trying to do fancy figure eights!

How pleasant it was after a rousing romp in the snow,
To gather 'round the parlor stove with faces all aglow,
Sipping cider with backs to the stove to warm your stern.
Oh! For the untroubled days of youth I shall ever yearn!

Now that I'm in the autumn of my life I have greater reason,
For having cast aside that childlike awe of the winter season!
For it is I who now must shovel snow and abide the cold,
As I hover nigh the fire and watch the winter storms unfold!

Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired (© All Rights Reserved)