Uploaded August 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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88 Wind Whistling Through Trees
1
In the year of 1977
I was about 29 years old.
We were hit by an ice storm
Leaving us dark and cold.
2
Of course the lights went out,
In the whole neighborhood,
The well could not pump water;
And the fireplace had no wood.
3
After the freezing rain had fallen,
With the wind whistling through the trees,
The temperature turned off very cold,
And fetching water was the priority.
4
I toiled a couple of hours
Carrying water up the slippery hill.
I joked a little to myself,
I should have paid the water bill.
5
The water was required to flush the toilet,
Else our situation would become squalid.
But the next goal was wood for the fireplace,
To prevent the pipes from freezing solid.
6
But the trees behind the house
Were covered in ice I learned,
And the wood I found was also green,
And it would hardly burn.
7
But after 18 hours of survival work,
The chill in the house was gone.
With satisfaction I leaned back in my chair,
And that’s when the lights came back on.