1967
Upon awakening the morning after our trek home
This blizzard of mind blowing proportions
Can still be seen raging outside the frosty pane
Of our bedroom window, making it impossible for
Anyone to go to work, and suddenly, Will and I, feeling
As gleefully free as my fifth grade class of ten year olds
Realize that Mother Nature is liberating us from
Our daily responsibilities, suggesting that
We can play today away to our heart's content
So, just like a couple of kids, enjoying a snow day, that's
Exactly what we plan to do—
And as we have no need to own ski clothes, as of yet
He and I can be seen dressing (after
Breakfasting on coffee and corn flakes)
As warmly as our present selection of clothing allows before
Opening our apartment's front door while
Thoughts of making a snowman dance like
Sugar plums through our heads
And guess what Will and I find when we
Walk out onto our third floor landing?
We find our next door neighbors, Jack and Jill
(Who, being newly weds, whose lives
Prove as busy as Will's and mine, had
Remained acquaintances of ours ever since they'd
Moved in (three months after Will and I
Had married), right after he and she
Had walked down the aisle)
And like a quartet of children, set free of
All reason to act like responsible adults, we four
Newlyweds can be seen flying down those
Three flights of stairs in playful anticipation of
Building a snowman for the first time in
Many years, and guess what else
Our eagerness to play, together, creates?
A friendship, which has reason to bond more
Quickly than any of us can believe ...
And while building our snowman to
Stand so tall as to brave today's continuing
Downpour of snow, the blizzard of '67' is
No longer empowered to damped
Our spirits or attitudes even one tiny bit—
Not even when a snowball fight turns into
A tag-team wrestling match that ensues until
Our water-logged outerwear has chilled us to
The bone, causing our teeth to chatter, though
Today, unlike yesterday, we
Couldn't care less about physical discomforts as
All four of us, shivering our way back up those
Three full flights of stairs, flood the
Towering hallway that rises straight up above
Us with gales of echoing laughter, while our
Tummies growl with hunger, just as had
Been true of Goldilocks and the three bears, so
Next thing you know, we're standing on our
Third floor landing, Deciding that after
Each of us has changed layers of soggy garments for
Clothes, which prove warm and dry, we'll pool our food
And enjoy lunch and dinner, together, for
The very first time, and having spent that
Fun-filled day, followed by a warm, cozy evening
Getting to know each other, it comes time to
Watch the nightly news, which
As you can imagine, peaks our interest to no end
And so, we choose to separate just long enough to
Change, once again, this time into 'comfies', suggesting
Readiness for bed, and as I observe
My husband—seemingly feeling free of stress, which
Under normal circumstances refuses to relent enough to
Offer his mind down time to relax inner tension, born
Of Will's drive to become as knowledgable a doctor
As possible before his graduation from med school in May
And having recaptured a glimpse of my boyfriend, whose
Proposal of marriage had been eagerly accepted
I can't help but hope that I'll be sleeping with
High spirited Will, who had won my heart, rather than
The exhausted version of the hard working young man, with
Whom I'd lived for close to a year—
And thus—rather than slipping into 'comfies'—it is
My choice to adorn myself, as quickly as possible, with that
Leopardskin, which lays in wait for any moment that
Offers me the chance to re-ignite Will's pilot light ...
And as we'd no place in our empty apartment to
Entertain our guests while watching the news on our 19 inch
Black and white TV other than our
King sized mattress, which pretty much covers
Our bedroom floor, now you know why
Jay and The Leopard Lady were seen sharing a bed
(Alongside Will and Jill)
On the very night that our brand new friendship had
Spent the day frolicking away, feeling
As free from toil, which had normally felt
So important as to make us forget how
Joyfully our spirits had danced around in
A Winter wonderland when we were ten while
The unrelenting reality of blizzard-like conditions had
Continued to plague those, who, for reasons, as yet
Unknown to us, had proved much less fortunate than
That which had been true for
Will and Annie and Jack and Jill, whose budding friendship will
Continue to have reason to flourish, not just over next few days, but
As you shall see ... as time goes on ... and BTW ...
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