How to Survive a Minnesota Winter

Julia Klatt Singer

Put on an old hat and mittens.
Wrap your body in darkness.  Carry
the weight of night on your shoulders.

Walk, without making a sound.
Notice how the air shifts
when he is near.

Find him, sitting by a window,
his silhouette imprinted on the pane.
Listen to the sound of the streetlamp.

Know your body hums the same.
Turn and find the moon.  Bare yourself
like these winter trees.

Let beauty fall to your feet, let wind
shake you, let your bones swallow
the chill of this evening’s air.

Nothing, not even winter,
can tame your wild bird of a heart.