A January Day

It was snowing when I arrived
On a January day.
What I had left behind in Illinois
Had been just about the same way.

From the bus station I caught a cab
To go to the YMCA.
Eighty dollars is all I had
So this is where I would stay.

The cab driver looked sort of funny
When I told him my destination.
I didn’t know it at the time
But it wasn’t far from the station.

I remember saying to the driver
“I didn’t think it snowed in Dallas.”
His answer I would hear many times;
“Oh, it’s just unusual weather for us.

I settled in and found a job
Not knowing if I would stay.
But I liked my work and the town
And especially eighty on Christmas day.

From the Y I moved to a rooming house
Which lasted ‘til I married.
Then an apartment for a while
Until a mortgage I carried.

The house was paid for in twenty years,
She lived only seven more.
Memories I inherited from her
And also cats—there were four.

Now fifty years have passed;
I’m getting up in years.
These years in Dallas have been good.
Certainly with more joys than tears.

So I don’t regret that January day
I arrived here in the snow.
But if it had been six months later
Would I have stayed? I don’t know.

jhs