Winter Walk

My boots grind out their crunch,
with each step an age passes—
another year in my ascent.
My knees knock the days, the years
slip by, icing over. 

Inside, my wife is icing a dark
cake, humming Lightfoot.
The snow eddies outside her window
so she cannot see my trudge 
back across the yard.

As the door falls open, heat’s
breath overtakes the nippy air
and draws me rejuvenated
into her warm presence. Years
melt off my arctic boots. 

—Frank Ledwell

Frank Ledwell (1930–2008) was named the first Poet Laureate of Prince Edward Island in 2004. He taught at St. Dunstan’s and UPEI and was the author of six books. Reprinted with permission from The Taste of Water (Acorn Press). 

Each month Bren Simmers selects a poem by an Island poet for The Buzz.