Winter

Bare and dry bones that reach up towards the sky

and freeze

becoming gnarled and twisted things.

 

There is no life here.

 

Except that my breath curls and wafts

opaque tendrils that escape from my body

little clouds whose heat I can almost capture

in the palms of my hands.

 

Snow falls in tiny patterns that remind me

of the way your eyes sparkle.

 

I know you best here

 

In the swirling snow that hugs at my form

and kisses my lashes, soft but real

like the way the wind whispers against my neck

like the way your lips, chapped

(but I love you for it)

used to press quietly against my bared skin.

 

I could hear your heart beat

 

But now, with face pressed to cold snow

and unforgiving ground

I only hear the silence

wrong and out of place

teardrops leave little crystals on my skin

as they slide sideways to kiss the earth

 

A reminder of then

dry lips and unassuming freckles

down comforters and leftover sun

 

I loved you best then