Windhoek Wintering A changing season, cold and steady lines.

Do I love Windhoek in winter
where windows won’t close and
welcome entrance to the cold
(not by Iceland’s or Sweden’s standards
but by its own)
a city that bakes its residents
most the year long?

In layers of clothes, I chill
ensconced in my sitting room
streaming entertainment
wrapped in a blanket,
rubbing my nose.

I understand that entropy
may soon overtake me.
I shouldn’t wax proud
or believe privileged status
will stave off my inevitable
winter at Gammams.


Don Stevenson is an American poet, writer, graphic designer, artist, and a member of the Windhoek Writers Club. With his family he made a home in Namibia in 1981. His illustrated children’s book, The Wonderlamp, was published in that year. Ancestors and Other Visitors, an anthology of poetry and drawings, was published in 2018.

 Cover Image: Anqi Lu on Unsplash.