The warmth heats my joints, like the sun heats Mercury.
These are the same joints that are plagued by Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The warm water engulfs the lower half of my body allowing my joints to relax,
Allowing them to loosen and breathe.

The cold freezes my joints,
The joints that help my body move.
The frigid breeze hits my knees like a tidal wave,
Knocking me down with no mercy.

The south,
The warm and sunny south,
Fills my joints with youth and energy.
The north,
The unpredictable and dynamic north,
Fills my joints with pain and swelling.

Mentally, the north is my home.
Physically, the north is my greatest pain.
Mentally, the south is a utopia.
Physically, the south is my greatest relief,
Relief of pain.

And so I endure on,
Making every cold day a countdown.                                       Not long from now,
I will be in the south.
The south, a place where my all pain resides,
And my discomfort rolls away with the ocean breeze.