Winter Storm

Two feet of white

stacked upon my car.

The wonder

of living near

the Great Lakes

of Northern Michigan.

I stood at the window

of my living room

while the world

looked like a snow globe

with white clinging

on the trees

across the street.

With a roar

the snowplow

scrapes snow packed roads

throwing snow

burying my walkways

as more snow

lofts and land

on top of the car.

Day one,

How pretty it looks.

Day two,

I can't ignore it.

Day three,

I land on my knees

and beg for it to stop.

Day four,

I must conquer

the mess outside.

Day five,

Door stopped

wouldn't budge

held up by

the white topping

covering the deck.

I lean on the door

and push enough to

squeeze my booty

through the crack.

I stop to pray,

"Good God,

Please protect me

as I truck and haul

all this beautiful snow."

Waist high.

I trudge through

the frozen crystals

to stand and face

the chore at hand.

Shovel waves

from under a drift

on the deck.

Snow falls off the handle

as I pry it from

its winter bed.

Ice cracks

as I pry it loose

and realize

the chore

of shoveling

to the coveted

winter work machine.

Panting,

I broke a path

feeling as if

I won a part of the battle.

I dust off the snow

with a sigh.

Snowblower

chugs a low laugh

as it says,

"NOT TODAY!"

It chugs again

and says.

"Not tomorrow either."

With a flop

I sit down in the snow

a tear formed

as I realized

my doom.

Northern Michigan winters

are not for the weak.

Yet, with age

I have become

the weak.

Shovel by shovel

I curse

the winter machine.

Sending side glances

at the lazy

bucket of bolts.

Day one of shoveling,

I can finally reach the car.

Day two of shoveling,

I brought down

two feet of

white and fluff

from the top

of the car

to toss it

on the mounting snowbank.

Maybe day three

my car will be free.

The Lazy machine

sits in its spot

and laughs

as the mechanic

tries to revive it.

With a chug

and a sneer

It laughs at the man

who throws in the towel

Leaving me to face

my doom

from morning to night.

Thank you,

you lazy machine

for taking this time

to quit on me.