When I wake cold
With frostbitten lips and shaky hands
Crooked fingers
Petal-pink knuckles
The shadows speak to me softly

They talk of the moon and the lights that outshine her
Every twinkling star that dances across the hills
Each speck of gold and white filled with laughter
The red and blue that swim among them
Adorned in raindrops and scarlet flowers

They talk of the view from the tallest edifice
The way the ocean waves lap against the shoreline
The people that drift by
Gleeful and dejected

The warm yellow hue of the sky before dawn
Every beast that nestles in the earth
Each glow that dims before bed

They grasp at my skin
Wrapping around my silhouette
“Please,” they murmur
“Don’t forget to turn the lights out”