This enemy forged from ice threatens the meager armor I wear to protect myself from its invasive presence. It creeps in wherever I let my guard down and assumes control of the warmth that gives me life. It spreads across the inside of my goggles like a virus in an attempt to blind my steps and makes a wall of my own warm breath against thin shield of cloth that covers my face.

It is the greatest adversary I can imagine. An assassin of the highest caliber. The cold has always been my greatest weakness.

Yet in it I find my greatest strength.

Through the frost that limits my vision I see, clearly, the path that I am on. In every stiffened step I feel the world spin beneath me in the syrupy chaos of space. In each labored breath I receive a promise of life.

It has become my ally, and though my trust does not extend beyond the knowledge that it will crush me on my first mistake, I embrace it as friend.

Image by J.M.Greff

For my brother, Steven, so he knows my winters aren’t all “stogies and computers”.

Published by J M Greff

J M Greff is the rambling author, trucker philosopher, peace loving hippie, spiritual warrior, backpacking pantheist, wandering minstrel, and poet fool who created A Caravan of One for you. View all posts by J M Greff