It Is Much Too Cold in the Midwest

The blizzard so fierce we drove the old VW bus

only from Adair, Iowa to Lincoln, Nebraska

before I-80 closed again — that was a day

the world stopped long enough for us to be in love.

At Perkins, we ate French toast with real maple syrup.

The room at the Super 8 smelled smoky and stale

but the shower was hot. We made love in the double bed,

young love, sweet love, crazy love, love to pass the time.

But pass it did. The winds swung around from the northwest

and artic air spilled across the Plains, too cold and dry

to snow. Men and machines cleared away the circumstances

that had drifted in to hold us timeless, on ice. Next day

we were back in the front seats, sleeping bags over our laps,

the cold air cutting through the thin sheet of metal

between us and a dark winter sky and those long I-80 miles.

And now our love has turned out like that rear-engine VW –

just enough power to keep us moving forward,

not enough heat to keep us warm.

[Via http://raysharp.wordpress.com]