In the sleepy time, stumbling, eye rubbing middle of the night

Where the starlight and streetlight mix and out here in the country

Gathering together and reflecting off the snow covering

Their harvest scattered up thru the window in a faded shaft of light

That bends and falls out across the bed

Showing me only the flattened sheet

Telling me only that you’re not here

You came into town like a snowstorm

And while others ran and hid, seeking shelter

I ran out to you to embrace you

Finding comfort in your winds and your wildness and surprises to come

The constant fall and flow of flakes

Swirled in the air and I danced

Madly spinning in circles, my tongue laid out

For me to taste all of you

As we played alone

In a worship and adoration

For day after day

We kept each other company

Alone

While others only watched from windows

With opinion and pronouncement on you

Or on me

Or somewhere inside the pale recognition

Of their own missing dream

That still lives outside

Buried in snow

But wind and weather always move on

The silence leaves either an empty or echo of you

I stare at your miracle now left behind

Seeing colors and shapes that were not there before

Now mine for having danced them into creation with you

But the crunch is the cold under my foot

The sound rushes out from underneath each solitary step of mine

And into the air

Rushing to follow you

I hear it and feel the air nip at me as I stand and watch

Part of me try to follow you

But I know that I am alone

And now am left with Winter…

JL Grady