Winter Sleep on Belfast Porch Swing

Molten copper light spills across a weathered wooden porch in Belfast, illuminating a toddler slumped in a hanging swing. The child wears a thick, dark coat and a knit hat, head resting against a worn stuffed bear. Heavy low-hanging clouds press down on the slate roof tiles and peeling white paint of the row house behind. Frost coats the iron chains of the swing, which hang from a rusted hook. The scene is framed at the edge, leaving the rest of the street in shadow. One crack in the porch floorboards reveals the dark wood beneath the chipped varnish.