snow deep and soft

three mile slog

a glacial pace 

across the lake

a long ribbon of strangers

under-dressed, over-dressed

some in dress shoes

down skirts, baby carriages

fat bikers, dogs, families

white, black, Samoan, Korean

Nepalese, Athabascan, Japanese 

a girl with a narrow tire bike

an impossible push

I suggested, "leave it behind,

no one will take your ride"

she ignored my advice

all of us in a pilgrimage

of sorts, to stand

and face a great wall 

white and blue, faces red

with sun and exhaustion 

then one and all, we

turn our backs and smile

capture ourselves in time

a time when the only ice

wasn't in pictures

or in our cups