the night was thick
with expectation: heavy lidded smiles
frosted chain link fence, creak

fingers found their way along
wedge foot in and pull up, lost
balance before

boots into snow, iced velvet
caught on every step
stole warmth from our toes

his nose was pink that night
and every word spoken
crystallized in the winter air

it made me wonder
if we were to return in spring
would the melting ice
spill our secrets into the earth

or evaporate, rise with warm air
and travel with the breeze

screen words spill
over fingers into palm
slipping and sliding over
the hair on my arm
up my neck. i feel their power
in the hole in my gut

they warm me
your words reach me in places
untouched
inside stomach turns and heat builds
coursing vein and blood beating mind
sticks and curved black lines on white
they taunt me

i read and feel your voice creeping
whispering through wide eyes

it’s icy, you said
words slipped like
oiled rubber soles
on linoleum

don’t come, you said
i pretended not to hear
no frozen winding
road could keep me
from you

i’ve forgotten how you taste
though images still flash hazily in my mind
grey blue steel eyes and our hands open to the skies
i remember the way your touch made me feel
but not how it felt

when was it that you solidified
then melted again in my arms as i fell
deeper into the abyss you had become