Winter Gives Up

Maybe it was moving to a new town.
Maybe it was Seasonal Affective Disorder, or
so many friends passing over the winter
to that field I have not gone to yet.
Maybe it was having to put down one of my dogs,
or shivering while walking the other dog
in 25 degrees with a windchill of twelve.
Maybe it was eating my own cooking, or
not enough hot baths (though I took plenty), or
just getting used to living alone again.
But when winter finally gave up today,
when the sun appeared and the neighbor kids
were out in the street with bikes and soccer balls,
when daffodils appeared amid the alley trash
and the forecast became sunny and warm,
warming every day for the foreseeable future,
I opened the front door and left it open,
I opened the windows,
I turned on the music, loud,
laid down on the floor and,
laughing,
told winter to go fuck itself.