Hot Potato

I am eight walking
To school on a gray
Snowy winter morning
With my mittened hands
Stuck in my pockets each
Hand holding a hot potato
Wrapped in aluminum foil to
Keep my hands warm and add
To my lunch bag safe from the
Cold until my walk home after
School arriving with feet so
Cold I feel the pain in both
My feet from which I slip
Off my wet shoes and
Socks sitting with my
Bare feet next to the
Furnace grate hot
Air thawing me
Then putting
On dry soft
Socks to
Toast
Until
I smell
The material
Begin to scorch
Then slip on
Shoes to
Play in
The
House
Until supper
Enjoying the warm
Air lying on rugs listening
To the radio playing board
Games coloring hide and
Seek making fudge or
Popcorn enjoying
Fighting with my
Sibs who share
My world and
Who like me
Will face
Winter
The
Next day.
Children endure
Because they are
Unaware as do
So many
Adults.