never felt this but i know every bone
in your hand. i’ll never let you be alone
again. hold me close, iced coffee in the cold
on a bench by a pond at a palace
you made Seoul feel just like home

your cold nose pressed to my cheek
as you kissed me in the street
i said
i’ll be with you for forty years, love
you said
i’m sorry, that’s not long enough

you can’t because you don’t try
you won’t feel the sky
eyes only for ghost lines
the way beauty cries
and wails from the sailing
of the birds and trees
and people in the street
of their lives and tales
they try and fail
and try again and win
the desires within
lovelorn or love scorned
head over heels or reborn
left behind or leading life
brilliant and serene
you dismiss this scene
with eyes of sleet
for a feed on a screen

this unyielding winter
splintered but inured
for the cold that reached inside me
is something i’ve endured

this unrelenting snow
blows shivers in my bones
but let this chill go thirty below
it’s a pain that i have known

spring will bring a harbinger
of warmth and sunny glow
but i’ll remain frozen in places
to thaw all on my own

the wind is whipping against frozen hands
snow drifts dance in snake-like bands
i reach into the cold to grip the flakes
that sift through my fingers and slip away