Winter Walk

Photograph by Reka Jellema. Copyright November 21, 2014. Untitled.

November chilled
loneliness
into icicles
before that winter
walk with hulking
dog and under
the cold clarity
of star no one
could have told you
falling snow was noise
for the eyes, paper white
scissored into flakes
you cannot blink
enough to blind
and in the streetlight
slanting the assault
of lake effect wind
lashing your lashes
and your skin
the cold could
hold the buzzcock
of your brain
at bay, lobotomize
the gray haze
of pharmaceuticals
If you walked
with her you’d follow
tire treads, stop
and sniff leaves
buried under drifts
pretend to balance
on a beam, an
erstwhile gymnast
shivering

By Reka Jellema
Copyright Reka Jellema
November 21, 2014