Winter In Detroit, 1987.

Winter In Detroit, 1987

The scene is this:  snow swirling in great whiteness, people scurrying

About in their cars.  Heavy with packages, and small children-teenagers

Flying by with snowy shoes.  A dog walks by, maybe a German Shepherd,

And he tries to wiggle in the snow a lot, like it is a blanket and he needs

The warmth underneath the snow to survive.  The stores in the city

Have bright windows as people shop or pass by.  Shadows fall on the

Ground, as the weather gets even grimmer.  There is no wildlife, now,

Except for the homeless people wandering about the night, lost in a cloud

Of coldness, trying to find the warmth of buildings, trying to find food to

Sustain them.  This is the real winter of Detroit, the homeless and the non-homeless,

People worrying about their bills, or their love lives, or their parents,

Some dead, some not, like Harold Buchinchamp, whose parents died long ago

In a winter like this, trapped in their black Ford as it sank towards the bottom

Of an icy river.  He remembers this.  He remembers everything.