Is it the body that brings softness

breaks the beams with breath.

I am heat in the long night.

This is the season of satsuma peels,

natural air fresheners, pith padding,

pink glint, nails cut too close to the skin.

The sun sings behind thick clouds

of bumps in streamlined movement

multiplying colors like one lush tree.

The weight of seeing,

almost unbearable. Resting

on the cushion of my coat,

soft and sturdy. A hole half-

heartedly patched up at the hem,

plumes escaping the uneven stitches

tempting me to unravel –

no – tear the blues apart.

Give those snowflakes space to burst into

even when all they do is float

a few feet above the ground in delight.