We’ve weathered new roads,
And old habits
Somehow coming through
Clean of the savage

We staked ourselves
In each other’s good,
Planting childlike loyalty
Wherever we stood.

We built years,
Brick by brick, day by day
With repetitive kindness,
And the ability to stay.

We mangled our road;
I couldn’t share you
You forgot me
Drunk on the new.

I have loved you
Your silent surface of sea
Covering your tumult
And your peace.

I’ve held too tightly,
And shoved too hard
Desperate to grasp you
Alone and unguarded.

I’ve been a savage;
Sabotaging our clasped hands
For the hope of embrace
To sate my demands.

I’ve been afraid
Our hearts would wander
Where the other could not follow
Our years abandoned and squandered.

I’ve been wrong;
Hastening the end of night,
Impatiently breaking in
Where I wasn’t invited

You weren’t there
To set me right.

It has been a long winter.
The dried and dead hide in our burrows
All iced over with the frosty fingers
Scratching thoroughly

Through and between us.

Now winter is dying.
Our long, cold bones are thawing,
And the ice that ossified us
Washes by us into the gnawing grave

Taking our strength with it.