Have you seen Cold?
Henna-blued in shade Cold,
Stiff and frigid suede Cold,
Sparkled, gem-inlaid Cold,
Have you seen Cold?
*
Have you heard Cold?
Crisply crunching whack Cold,
Ice upheaval crack Cold,
Blizzard-blowing smack Cold,
Have you heard Cold?
*
Have you felt Cold?
Puts your soul to sleep Cold,
Biting, makes-you-weep Cold,
Hurts-to-breathe-in-deep Cold,
Have you felt Cold?
*
Loosely based on Joanne Oppenheim’s delightful children’s book ‘Have You Seen Birds?’ For those of you who have never experienced temperatures in the -40s, you can’t possibly imagine Cold. Here is your crash-course introduction…
Meanwhile, Melody Muses... 
I feel your cold…..brrrrr.
It’s breathtakingly beautiful – all crisp and white. More beautiful yet from indoors with a mug of hot chocolate! 🙂
Well do I remember certain Calgary winters with those temps. Worst of all was the winter semester I spent near Winnipeg finishing my undergrad degree. -55% one morning with the wind chill. Delightful.
God bless Winnipeg… You have seen, felt, and heard cold – and lived to tell about it! There should be some sort of badge of courage we could wear. ‘I took my dog for a walk at -55 and didn’t lose a limb to frostbite’ would do, wouldn’t it? 🙂
Indeed. I recall helping some poor fellow push his car out of the ditch (an all too common occurrence in Manitoba!) at that temperature. When I hear Yakima folks bitching about the weather in whatever it is we call ‘winter’ I just politely smile and think…”you have absolutely no idea, do you?”
Is it a properly smug smile? 😉
Melody, your poem is winter wonderful!! I am so embarrassed at what a wimp I’ve become since living on this island… We went out to take photos, in a field, this morning and I am still trying to get warm – hours later! The ground is frosty in parts but not even frozen… I salute you!
Blessings ~ Wendy
🙂 There is a kind of perverse pride in keeping all as usual no matter what kind of wicked winter weather is tossed our way. And yet – we flock to warmer places all winter, to escape! Go figure…
I grew up with a skating rink in our backyard that my dad always made. Now you couldn’t drag me back to my snow laden hometown since I’ve turned into a west coaster! But I miss the beauty of bright whiteness on our very gray days… Enjoy your beautiful surroundings and thank you for sharing it with all of us – it’s lovely!!!
The colours the past few days in this cold snap have been so crisp and clear and magical – I can’t be out too long without my shutter hand needing a warm-up – but I’ll try to get some good shots just for you! 🙂
🙂
I feel blued-in this crunch!
Oh, oh – to the teapot, quickly!! 🙂
Nothing like a clear cold day. I remember in my 20s going out to play hockey ridiculously early in the morning when it was -40 (before wind chill). I forgot to plug the car in but it started even though it was outside. The things we do in the cold …
We are a hardy stock, to be sure! It throws us into giggles when it snows a few cm in Vancouver and they shut down the schools… We bought a used car once and (gasp) it didn’t have a winterfront, b/c it came from the States somewhere. What a shock… 🙂
You are marvelously talented and clever, Melody! I love this. I vaguely remember some very cold Minn winters–I don’t know the exact temp, but the snow drifts were taller than we children were. Not my cup of tea, a ‘tall.
Nor mine – I’m dreaming of a beach Christmas… and yet, it IS beautiful!
Beach, YES!!!
I love how you did this Cold poem! And I have a friend in Alaska . ..so I’ve learned to not ever complain about weather. haha! I think her and her family don’t even put coats on until it’s in the teens! We are wimps!
We seem to easily acclimatize, don’t we? I’m quite sure I could acclimatize to Florida’s weather. (I’d at least like to try!) 😉