Snowfall

There are times I lie awake and think of you

I feel your fingers against mine, 

or the weight of your leg as we sit quietly

I recall the slow scrape of hair on your cheek

Steadily tease the pink on mine

Claiming “how cold you are!” 

but how warm you have promised to keep me, 

Making my chapped, cracked lips smile 

with sweet, sharp pain

Batting you away

wanting you closer

We laugh loud enough to keep the creatures who live

by the path

away

As well as other enjoyers of the night air

Insufferable, their faces would say.

I think of our insufferability in my room, now alone

I wish I could chase off the animals of the path as effectively

Because I am very cold

What is worse when the nights come where I cannot remember you

The nights I feel the cold come through the crack under the door

or through the walls themselves

And I try to imagine what warmth felt like

I walk along the path alone

Did I ever walk with someone else?

I do not fear these nights however

I embrace them

I look at the moon

or the ice

or the faces of others who pass me

And I let my chapped, cracked lips smile

Welcoming the sweet, sharp pain

Because though your absence will hurt now, 

My lips and your absence will heal

Enough to walk this path again

And feel warm with your memory.