hometown memory

When the mercury plummets to minus double digits, I think of my hometown, the place of my first 18 years—colder than any place I have ever lived.  There is one particular occasion, waiting at a bus stop, that sums up my memories of harsh cold.  It’s my freezing temperature benchmark.

On a grey winter day on a downtown street I wait alone for a bus, my vision narrowed to an expanse of frozen pavement.  There is no shelter from the biting wind.  My cheeks feel like cardboard, my ears are numb, the air is dryer than dry, my fingers clench inside mitts, feet stomp and my mind burrows deep.

mental challenge

in harsh winter winds

warm blood runs deep

~

©2018 Ontheland

My haibun is written in response to the dVerse Monday Hometown Haibun prompt.

Arctic cold

When the thermometer plummets to double digits below zero (Celsius) an increase to -8 degrees is warmer weather:

from thirty to eight

a ladder of minuses

climbs to warmer weather

Even when the heat thermostat setting is steady, it feels colder inside:

Arctic cold pierces —

sharp needles puncture walls

of furnace heat

And there are other side effects:

in freezing cold

only moisture melts—

dry skin cracks

~

This is my response to Frank Tassone’s Haikai Challenge #15: Winter Storm or Arctic Cold.

©️2018 Ontheland