winter thought

 Just Below Zero

written Feb 6, 2022


a thaw

is an illusion

no, it's evidence of time

the thing we call

(it never comes)


a few 

shifting snows


boots full of slush

(no gratitude for the ride home)


i think of my heart

and feel it twinge a little

in my mid-life 

chest

sitting up alert to being thought of

momentarily

dissolves into the cooling


numb

soles of feet always

the words escape

the dreams no longer cute -- or dreamy

watch it over and over again

I don't want to write this but a written word is not a reality -- only

a snapshot

of frost before


the inevitable: a thaw

is an illustration

no it's a live wire hanging

from the storm-bent tree


neighbour's stupid contractor 

attempts detachment

and crushes a railing, some stairs

convinced of his ability

(soles of feet cooling

words coming out in

the wrong order).


fear tactics thaw the gills

hidden behind

that emboldened heart


remember when we were....


remember the water?....


remember us?.....

says the slush in my boots.



Lucy Rupert

February 6, 2022

Toronto



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