• "It’s too cold to go outside,"
    They said, wrapping us in blankets
    As they hustled
    And bustled about
    While together we both lay
    Exchanging mischievous
    Grins like trinkets.
    Later, when they thought us asleep,
    We opened our
    Doors to the hallway
    Holding hands, we began to creep
    Stepping over the
    Creaks in the old wooden floors
    Until together we reached
    the first landing with a leap,
    And skittered to the outside door.
    Not bothering with our boots or our jackets,
    We flung open the door and ran outside in the cold.
    Your cough wasn’t bad,
    Nothing the doctor couldn’t clear up.
    We didn’t think of it much,
    We just enjoyed until we collapsed
    In the soft snow banks of our dreams.
    Shivering we walked back inside,
    Closing the door and running upstairs to change
    Warming ourselves with blankets and quiet successful laughter.
    I still remember,
    That,
    our last December.
    You left me alone
    like the falling icicles crumbling with the first hint of spring.
    I still get up on cold winter nights
    and creep to the door
    Opening it,
    I listen to the echo of your laughter in the snow.