To Smaller Cities in Northern States: A Letter

I am not of your world, with its cold,
its gardens, small towns, and independent coffee shops.
Of course, we have those, too, but I never knew the
owner by name, nor could walk down every street
at night feeling safe inside my own skin
inside my own city. Your world has snow;
My state tries it, every now and then,
and people still freak out as if it's the
first time they've ever stepped on ice.
The wind can't make up its mind, either,
and while I could imagine you have cold
wind, too, there is always the added
element of demons from hell that accompany
our winter wind, which makes it one hell
of an attraction. Pun intended. No,
I don't suppose you'd ever want to come
back to the land of wind and dirt,
But if you did, I'd attempt to find
the most beautiful flowers and loveliest
fountains, to prove that even in one of
the largest cities in the middle of
nowhere, people like you and I can still find
beauty, and maybe that was meant to impress
you, but it's enough for now just to call you
friend from a distance and wait a while
longer before I can show you my side
of Oklahoma.