She is riding on an old fashioned sleigh with a back and side bar to hold her in the seat. Cold air bites her bare cheeks. There is a baby on the sleigh in front of her and she holds the other child under its arms.

puppies
curled up together
winter sun

There is a roughness on her cold cheek – a scarf perhaps, or the back of her sister’s snowsuit.  She closes her eyes against the bright snow.

comfort food
the smell of sleep
on an old blanket

Someone lifts her up and carries her into a blast of warm air as they enter the apartment.   The stiff clothes are peeled from her body.  Her aunt offers hugs and kisses. 

tomato soup
the way love tastes
in a memory

~~~

Bards Annual 2017

First published in Failed Haiku: A Journal of English Senryu, November 2016