Cold/Snap(Poem)

The virtues of being leafless

Version 1:

You can’t fake 
The way December’s wind 
Leaves your ears
Hot & red,

The same way 
You can’t fake 
What you are 
Beneath your leaves. 

Winter has a way, 

Of making life faster,
Of reminding you, 
Of everything you did, 

Before today
& making it all seem 
Like yesterday.

I never minded
The loss of leaves 
From my limbs, 

I appreciated being baren bark
Knowing what stood beneath 
My seasonal adornments. 

Whenever its December-cold 
I tuck my shirt in, 
Then my sweater,
Or hoodie 

My friend taught me that, 
It must’ve been 
Two winters ago 

He said the tucked shirt 
Traps heat, 

If only I 
Could tuck my ears 
From the wind 

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Version 2:

Winter has a knack 
For bareness

It defies any attempt 
At self-delusion 

I can’t deny the pain 
Of December twisting 

My ears red 
With its wind-fingers

Like the trees,
The cold shakes me 
Leafless

This forced nakedness 
Mugs the loose parts 
Of my personhood

I’m left 
Knowing the pieces of me 
That’re meant to be there

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