nye snow squall

highway signs flash
winter weather conds.
whiteout conds. possible
brink of a new year
barreling through a wicked snow globe time machine
taking me slowly, strangely home

golden starbursts
teasing the horizon
teasing brain with thoughts of warmth, togetherness
fireworks give way to thundersnow

while my eyes leak
tears of exhaustion
of concentration
of loneliness
while my dog sleeps fitfully in the back seat
on this slippery treacherous black snaking road
that cleaves the mountains in two
down toward home

two hours stretch to four
nearly midnight
but we make it
trembling legs releasing clutch
quaking with relief
solid familiar ground

as my dog and I dart
across the patchwork of icy dirt road
lit only by sliver of moon
snowy crescent of light trapped between snowy clouds and icy ground
tennis shoes with no traction
glass of gin sloshing out of cup, over cold fingers
midnight arrives with a chorus of barks
same company, no longer lonely
only deliciously, achingly, gaspingly alive