The Cold Breaks Through

figurative demands
on clock
make tick tock go tick tock
hands askance; never holding

nothing else matters
when sun’s crest does not fall,
when there is nothing left,
nothing at all
in the middle of the wild,
where there are stones and trees,
where there are wolves and bees,
where water cuts
babies scream.

vacuum leaves silence
as temperatures drop in grade
we shiver dance and tuck
with gloves and mittens and
tightly pulled sleeves
wind torn wide open
glances exposed skin
shudder and shiver shudder and shiver
shudder to the things we left behind
the literal demands of info flash rewards
as we look up the hill, with snow covered pines,
no tick no tock no tick no tock

Dorian LaGuardia
11 January 2022