Cold Warning
Feb 19 2023
The cold warning
about wind chill and frozen skin
exposed for mere seconds,
a broken-down car
as a life-threatening event,
must have been missed
by the young men
striding boisterously out of the gym,
bareheaded
in short pants and light jackets,
athletic shoes
half unlaced.
They are laughing at bad jokes,
comparing the weights
they bench-pressed today,
razzing their buddies
about girlfriends who dumped them.
The mean banter
of men who are fond of each other,
mercilessly sussing out
the soft underbelly
to stick their pointed wit.
When you're young, apparently
bare skin doesn’t freeze
and legs are immune to cold,
just as knees are indestructible
and you can eat all the junk you desire.
While mortality
is a hypothetical notion
of interest only to the old;
who, they assume, were always that age.
Like wild horses
galloping with sure indifference
through winter canyons deep in snow
they are oblivious,
too vital
to even feel it
— big bodied creatures,
manes streaming and nostrils steaming,
body heat
radiating off their powerful flanks.
I watch
from the warmth of the driver's seat,
questioning how reckless
but envious of their ease.
The heater
is jacked-up to max
as I tick off my checklist —
arctic boots,
mitts-scarf-and-hat,
parka zipped tight.
Then exit the car.
Treacherous ice,
and a blast of cold
that takes my breath away.
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