red-cheeked & giddy with hope

we plan sledding days at the country club with a hill

& reminisce about them when summer comes,

recall hours spent tumbling

head over heels into mounds of snow, clutching

for dear life the thin plastic sleds, shrieking with terrified laughter

as the hill flies away beneath us &

in february when it happens we grin with relief

and nearly forget 

that rush of wintry glee 

when the warmth we wait for                   finally arrives.