drops of frost

published: 2011-11-21

A black woman on a bicycle. She has pulled the hood of her winter coat over her head and fastened it tightly. From behind, it looks as if a bright orange balloon hovers over shivering shoulders. It is cold. Misty, too. She waits at a traffic light and I look at her. Her eyebrows and eyelashes have collected tiny drops of white frost. They stand out against her ebony-coloured face. I have never seen anything more gentle than those specks of frost.