We curled up in the cheap glow of cheaper Christmas lights and swallowed romance down like English breakfast tea (your favorite), taking in gulps of candy colored warmth
That's how we kept this thing alive, if you're wondering
We wrapped ourselves in winter scarves on winter nights so that we could see the snow swirling, the Earth breathing, and not each other
You looked at the outline of my shoulders while I looked at the sky, and I wondered whether snowflakes jump from a home they don't feel like they belong in anymore
I'm floating through this dark expanse at the mercy of gravity, I'm pale, I'm different, I'm a lot of things
And when the holiday displays are tucked away and you're finally looking at me
Shedding my layers and naked without the blues and greens of tiny plastic lights
I'll hit the pavement and disappear
They'll be looking at the outline of you and you'll be looking at me
As pale and pretty as I ever was in the flurry of my melting winter melancholy
And in the blizzard of the way you can't quite explain to people what was beautiful about me
You'll think back to Christmas lights and tea
And you'll wonder why it couldn't keep me alive