2000 nyc

the coldest day
in my life was in
new york city.
the wind blistered
your skin coming
off the water around
battery park, and
straight up
broadway. you had
to duck into a store,
or pub to unfreeze
your limbs. it
burned your lungs
to breathe. it was
almost too cold
to snow, or so you
thought, and it
did, sticking quickly
bringing everything
to a halt, a peaceful
brush of white
drifts leaned against
the buildings
that had no end
as christmas
approached. and when
the snow stopped,
the cold ebbed
and the city was still,
and lit up in every
color for the holdiay
a few days away. and
i remember, with my
son's hand in mine,
he was only ten,
staring into the
shop windows, wordless
at the toys, the
the garlands and trains
the animals alive,
alive with magic.