The first time I hugged you your skin was like the down on a baby duck
I could have spent hours stroking the palm of your hand with my thumb
It was soft and warm
Like a new spring leaf
But now every bare skin hug is marred with your skin
Rougher than tree bark
Every line on you, I can see the pain you have endured through the years
In your youth you are so old
Holding your hands now, it has lost its spark
Your hands are colder than any winter I’ve lived through
Your hands
Are now almost just bone
Thats probably because you have only grown taller, no wider, since seventh grade
Even the beautiful cherry smile you had
Its is now lost in the wind like the last crumbling winter leaf