"Debriding" is such a painful and good word there.

 

This can only be true:

 

Without knowledge of winter,
             Spring would merely add colour
                              instead of life.

 

 

Are the last two lines too didactic?  I seem to do that don't I...maybe I should trust my reader more...

I loved the poem. the last two lines were perfect. The poem captures winters grip very well.

Blue, I was walking through the woods at Oakland University when this one was born...You (and any other Michiganian in this crew) have intimate knowledge of that wind that cuts to the bone...winter can be mean around here.

 

Thank you for reading...J

I don't think the last two lines are didactic, Jen, but I think they're slightly inaccurate. Winter prunes (or some other word that means to cut in order to cure), spring heals. And I think you need a stronger word than painful. Excruciating is too strong. Something between those two. Aching, maybe. That's not right, though. Something about how you feel after surgery. Maybe drastic, which implies sacrificing something that's just before being vital, for the greater good.

jen that cold that when you come home, you cant shake. A hot shower slowly thaws you out, but it almost hurts as the hot water hits you frozen body.

Really nice poem.    I look forward to reading more.