The Test

Sternum pried apart, body medically cooled
as surgery proceeded -- that happened.
Scarcely three months later, the challenge
was threefold; the atmosphere raw and
damp, wind knifing through minus-six
degrees Celsius; ankle-deep snow with
a succession of long ascents and
matching descents; and whether enough
time had passed to advance the healing
process to enable a return to old habits
of daily rambles through an urban
forest thick with snow-laden conifers
and foliage-deprived deciduous trees
along familiar trails never before
difficult to negotiate. Your two little
dogs beside themselves with joyful
abandon to return in your company
to a beloved landscape, racing ahead 
greeting other dogs leading hikers you 
well know, who stop, incredulous at 
your appearance to exclaim, draw near
and warmly hug taking care not to press 
your chest. Initial trepidation soon departed 
as you forged on to complete a familiar 
circuit not in record time but in a timely 
manner for a man of 80 whose life had so
latterly been upended, returning to normal.