and so this wintering
is a chilling by degrees
the sting of loss
slowly frosting all I love
or all that might
have ever loved me

where are those
easy days of light
the long walks
beside a blue lake
the yellow coneflowers
the sun’s burning kiss

now I am all shadow
and sadness
at this slow goodbye
this fading into gray
that has become my life

you could have loved me
but you were too afraid
mistaking all this death
for who I am

while all this time
I was in the color
undamaged and intact
ablaze with life
and its sweet repititions