Winter light slants deeply
Shining golden outlines of people's hurried frames, past flower stands stuffed with pine
Casting clear lines of a larger self in front of you
So you follow your shadow, since it looks so solid. More following than leading
until the cold reaches deep enough in your skin to remind that you are the conscious one
and you breath in crisp air sharply
Feeling it in your expanding lungs, the cold shocks you a bit
and you breath again, for good measure
Watching your breath come out in a satisfying cloud
Against the blazing afternoon light of early December