Winter

"Oh!" say the people in
Georgia with fright.
"It's so cold it got down
in the 30s last night!"

"Ha!" all the people in
Kentucky say.
"We're lucky to get it
that warm in the day!

"Your little winter is
only a splinter
compared to the cold of
a Kentucky winter."

"Haw, Haw," Minnesotans say
with a jeer.
"You think that's cold?
Well come on up here!

"Your little winter is
only a splinter compared to the cold of
a Minnesotan winter!"

All the Canadians.
say with a smile,
"You haven't been cold
'til you've been here a while!

"Your little winter is
only a splinter
compared to the chilly
Canadian winter."

"Well," say the Eskimos
from houses of snow,
"it's warm up here,
only 30° below!

"Your little winter is
only a splinter
compared to the freezing
Alaskan winter."

Wherever you live,
New York or Denver,
Miami or Juneau,
Always remember:

Your little winter is only a splinter
Compared to the cold of a Nuclear winter.

Rachel Hartman lived in Lexington, Kentucky, was 12 years old, and was in the seventh grade at the time this poem appeared. She collected stamps, played the cello, and had a pet rabbit.