off the Hudson

bundled you are

in the cold.

but you've been colder

before.

years ago in New York city.

the wind

pressing down

off the Hudson.

the sky

white with snow.

you'd never known such

cold before.

such a brutal

winter it was.

your feet numb, the burn

in your lungs.

your eyes glazed

with tears while you

huddled 

in the storefronts, bolted

closed.

you/ve never quite shaken

that cold.

it still presses 

into you, frightens

your bones.