the thawing out

the winter came just when we knew it would,
when the trees had been barren
for so long that they began to fade
into the endless skeletal grey that was everything
and it took the first shimmering frost
to remind us that they were still there and still growing
long after the fiery hues of autumn had cooled,
but now that winter is here
one begins to feel apathy toward the blues and whites as well

  every room is heated until the inside glows red
but this is not the red of the autumn leaves I longed for
and then forgot
but something entirely new,
artificial, one could say

  after the first snowfall the salt trucks made rounds,
their only remedy to lower the freezing point
of something already frozen
I still slip every time I walk home

  "this is a better winter than most," 
people tell me,
but the cold still hurts
the summer will come soon enough,
I remember,
and then I will miss the ability to sit quietly inside

  winter pushes us all into close quarters,
but I have nothing to say to these people who have nothing to think
and everything to believe
we’re a well matched pair, her and I,
each of us will always have the light on while the other is trying to sleep

  the chill has been dragging on for months
and at this point,
the pavement is white and it isn’t even from snow

but now
after five long sleepless nights 
I open my eyes and realize
the winter is finally thawing out