Below Zero

A dimness has poured over the bright of her day,

where dirty light tightens around the body, squeezing

bitter truth from lemon-flavored karma.

An infant’s voice bounces and plays inside her head,

where love is a pale, frozen rainbow, shining

just faintly above an empty playground.

The choice came with the crystal air of a cruel winter.

The day was cold—unforgivably cold—but heat danced through it.

No one would come close to understanding this.

Now, she is rigid; severely pensive beneath falling white.

Acrobatic thoughts dissolve within her stillness

as winter coils around her, ready to strike.

And in the icy wind, a baby cries.

Tiny footprints in the snow fade away.

Where once was a life is now empty space—

empty space and a fading lullaby.


(From the book Kairos)