Cold Martha

Cold Martha was known
in specific
for the school she established
in the arctic.

"Inclement weather," she told her girls,
"is no reason to look less than one's best."
And indeed, Martha's students
were always exceptionally well dressed.

There is a story
of Martha's encounter with a polar bear
on the icy white lawn--
and how she instantly,
sternly,
commanded the beast to sit down.

Cold Martha wore furs
with tassels and trim;
no one knows who her husband was,
or what became of him,

but I can tell you that Cold Martha
could be warm, generous, and fine.
Anyone who claims that she was saturnine
is assinine.

Cold Martha?
Exacting, demanding, indeed--
but she had other sides, from those besides--
and saved them sweet for me.
_______