up too early

numbers are meaningless heat and cold
are what we feel and the wind's touch
be it harsh or soft can say quite as much
now what the stolid thermometer told
was that those who ventured out were bold
on this coldest of days yet as was known such
were the requirements that mad us clutch
our coats and run and feel our bodies old
this seems a mistake here where winter's mild
and january began with unseasonable spring
but now it ends somewhere below the norm
this should remind us that nature is wild
with energy her veins and vessels sing
and never fixed or steady is her form