Winter Mornings
I find myself nostalgic for early mornings in the winter.
When it was still dark outside,
So cold my cheeks would turn pink just from the walk to the mailbox.
There was a time when I was outside during early mornings in the winter,
When I didn’t set my own alarm.
There was a time during early mornings in the winter,
When I didn’t worry about school shootings.
When I didn’t worry about abortion rights,
Women’s rights,
LBGTQ+…rights.
I didn’t stress about my country and the people in it so hard that I had to stop.
I didn’t wish I lived somewhere else…
Anywhere else.
There was a time during the early mornings in winter,
When I woke up to a hand on my shoulder.
There was a time during the early mornings in winter,
When I walked outside in the still dark with my jacket zipped high and my hat over my eyes.
But as time passed, I stopped getting up before the sun.
I started setting my own alarm.
I stopped wearing my hat over my eyes,
And I saw this country for what it really was.
Flaws and all.
I find myself wishing for the simpler times, for the early mornings in the winter…
