Studies in Cold and Gray

After enjoying a few days wafting with the friendly 

promise of Spring! we were greeted this morning by frigid 

gusts of air thirty degrees colder than they 

were yesterday. Unfortunately, I hadn't worn my warmest

coat, so stood miserably stoic at the bus stop, my nose

warmed by my own breath as it drifted among 

the deep folds of my neck scarf.

Only traces remain of the snow that held us 

in its thrall for weeks, but the island of cold air that 

swept in overnight make it seem as though those

traces of cold have settled permanently 

between my shoulder blades.

I may never stand straight again.